Jessica Bouzas Maneiro of Spain pulled off a seismic upset on Centre Court of Wimbledon on Tuesday, toppling defending champion Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-2 of their first-round showdown.
Playing in solely the third Grand Slam foremost draw of her profession, World No.83 Bouzas Maneiro earned her first Grand Slam main-draw victory by ousting Vondrousova in simply 67 minutes. Bouzas Maneiro transformed all 5 of her break factors to finish the feat.
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No.6 seed Vondrousova grew to become solely the second defending champion to lose within the first spherical of Wimbledon within the Open Era. The different time it occurred at Wimbledon was 30 years in the past, when former Top 10 participant Lori McNeil defeated three-time defending champion Stefanie Graf within the 1994 opening spherical.
For 21-year-old Bouzas Maneiro, that is by far her largest profession win by rating. Bouzas Maneiro had by no means defeated a Top 40 participant earlier than Tuesday. In truth, she had solely performed a Top 10 participant as soon as earlier than, when she misplaced to Jelena Ostapenko on residence soil in Madrid in April.
However, the Spaniard has served discover over the previous 12 months that she is one to observe. Bouzas Maneiro had already performed Wimbledon as soon as earlier than, when she efficiently certified for the primary draw final 12 months, making her Grand Slam main-draw debut.
Bouzas Maneiro clinched her first WTA 125 title at Antalya in early April of this 12 months, and she or he made her Top 100 debut only a week later. One 12 months in the past, she was ranked World No.167, however that rating has been halved since then.
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There have been early indicators that issues won’t go precisely to kind below the closed roof of Centre Court, when Vondrousova fired three double faults in her opening service sport. Bouzas Maneiro’s backhand was strong within the opener, and a love maintain at 5-4 put the Spaniard a set away from the upset.
Strong returning gave Bouzas Maneiro a break for 2-1 within the second set, and the unseeded participant began to take management for good when she slammed a backhand winner down the road to consolidate for 3-1.
Bouzas Maneiro dominated with crosscourt forehands to interrupt once more for 5-2, and she or he rapidly powered to double match level when serving for the match. One closing backhand winner wrapped up her first grass-court win in a tour-level foremost draw.
Bouzas Maneiro received 77 p.c of her first-serve factors within the conflict. Vondrousova had six extra winners than Bouzas Maneiro, however the Czech was undone by 28 unforced errors, doubling Bouzas Maneiro’s 14.
More to come back…