Marketa Vondrousova became the first defending Wimbledon women’s champion to make a first-round exit for 30 years as she was bundled out by Spaniard Jessica Bouzas Maneiro on Tuesday.
The Czech sixth seed slumped to a 6-4 6-2 defeat as her reign ended with a whimper and there was also crushing disappointment for two-time champion Andy Murray.
The British favourite was denied a last hurrah on his beloved Centre Court as his injury curse struck again, the 37-year-old withdrawing from the singles just as the gates opened for day two of the Championships
Murray admitted defeat in his race against time after surgery to remove a spinal cyst – pulling out of his match against Czech Tomas Machac, although he may still get to write the final chapter of his fabled Wimbledon chronicle with his brother Jamie in the doubles later this week.
While Murray will likely call time on his illustrious career after the Olympics, his old adversary Novak Djokovic showed no sign of his knee problems as he began his quest for a record 25th Grand Slam title impressively.
Serbia’s Djokovic had surgery after pulling out of the French Open and was a doubt for Wimbledon but the seven-time champion looked razor sharp as he crushed Czech qualifier Vit Kopriva 6-1 6-2 6-2.
“Practice week went great but an official match on Centre Court is completely different,” Djokovic, who risked breaking Wimbledon’s all-white clothing policy with a grey knee support, told reporters.
“I didn’t know how I would feel or how the knee would hold up, but for an opening match I couldn’t ask for a better start.”