Twelve months after her improbable run to the Wimbledon title, Marketa Vondrousova suffered a no less improbable defeat, falling in straight sets to Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, an unheralded Spaniard ranked 83 in the world.
The irony of a 6-4, 6-2 reversal that gives the 25-year-old Czech an unwanted place in the record books alongside Steffi Graf, who became the first defending women’s champion to go out in the opening round when she was beaten by Lori McNeil 30 years ago, will not be lost on Vondrousova.
Last summer, she arrived in SW19 with just one win from four previous visits, and left as the first unseeded women’s winner in history. This year, she walked through the gates of the All England Club as the defending champion, and was beaten by a woman who had never previously claimed a main-draw victory at a major.
Such are the sport’s vicissitudes, not least at Wimbledon, where an eighth different champion in eight years will be crowned on Saturday week unless Elena Rybakina, a 6-3, 6-1 winner over Romania’s Elena-Gabriela Ruse, can repeat her title triumph of two years ago.
There were mitigating circumstances for Vondrousova, who retired from her last-16 match against Anna Kalinskaya in Berlin last month after suffering a hip injury, and here she appeared hesitant from the outset, with three of her seven double faults coming in the opening game. As she admitted afterwards, however, her travails were as much mental as physical.
“Today I was a bit scared, you know, because of my leg too, but I don’t think that was the reason [I lost],” said Vondrousova. “I felt nervous from the start, but she was also playing a good match.
“Overall, it was very tough. It’s tough feelings also to go back. I feel like everybody just expects you to win maybe, so that’s tough too. I was happy to be back on the Centre Court, but it just didn’t go as planned today.”
As Vondrousova laboured under the weight of expectation, Bouzas Maneiro rose to the occasion magnificently. Encouraged by her opponent’s shaky start and alive to the dangers inherent in the wily Czech’s game, the 21-year-old never appeared overawed, holding her ground in the baseline exchanges, varying her service patterns with craft and intelligence, and visibly growing in belief as the match wore on.
Vondrousova, meanwhile, committed 28 unforced errors, her erratic performance epitomised by a string of misses as Bouzas Maneiro served for the opening set. Stick or twist, nothing seemed to work for the champion, who erred with a pair of big forehands, then changed tack to no avail, sending a more conservative chipped backhand long. As Vondrousova thrashed a final backhand into the net to go a set down, Bouzas Maneiro roared in triumph, turning to her box with a clenched fist and a look of steel in her eyes.
Having dropped serve again at the start of the second set, Vondrousova broke back immediately, just as she had done in the opener. But Bouzas Maneiro was not to be denied, moving ahead for a second time after drawing an error with a deep return, then spearing a backhand winner to consolidate her advantage with a love hold. Even as Vondrousova held in the next game, staying in touch with a brilliant running lob, she grimaced. The Czech would soon be put out of her agony. With 68 minutes gone, Bouzas Maneiro steered a placement down the line to claim the biggest win of her career.
“In my mind, I think that I had no pressure today to play against her,” said Bouzas Maneiro. “Of course, first round is difficult for these players who won the last year. But I had no idea about [Vondrousova feeling nervous].
“I know she’s an amazing tennis player and she has a good level, so I was trying to not think about it, just thinking about myself, thinking I had no pressure. Of course, I was thinking that maybe she had a little bit more pressure than me.”
Iga Swiatek, who knows plenty about such pressures, came through a testing opener against Sofia Kenin, the former Australian Open champion, in straight sets. Despite electing not to play any matches on grass following her French Open victory last month, the Polish world No 1 looked sharp as she despatched Kenin 6-3, 6-4 to notch up her 20th straight win.
“For sure it was a solid start, and not an easy draw, so I’m happy that I have a chance to play another match here,” said Swiatek. “Nowadays on the WTA [Tour] it’s pretty easy to play against grand slam champions even in the first round, so we have to be ready for everything. These are experienced players, so there’s no time to get into the tournament slowly, you need to be ready straight away.”
Vondrousova, shorn of her title and set to drop out of the world’s top 10 when the revised ranking list is published after Wimbledon, can attest to the truth of that sentiment.