Sharapova sent packing early at Wimbledon
Former champions Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova have made stunning first-round exits from Wimbledon.
Sharapova lost after fellow Russian Vitalia Diatchenko came from a set and a break down to oust the former champion.
Sharapova served for the match at 5-3 in the second set and was up a break in the third set as well. But Diatchenko refused to give in and won 6-7(3) 7-6(3) 6-4.
That followed Kvitova’s 6-4 4-6 6-0 exit to unseeded Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus.
The eighth-seeded Kvitova entered the tournament as one of the favourites despite having withdrawn ahead of the third round at Eastbourne last week with a right hamstring complaint.
However, that didn’t appear to be affecting her as she rallied to level the match by winning the second of two closely fought sets.
Despite the 2011 and 2014 Wimbledon champion being vastly more experienced than Sasnovich, Kvitova was the one overcome by nerves in the deciding set.
‘‘The nerves were there again,’’ Kvitova said. ‘‘I just tried to kind of fight with myself.’’
As Kvitova faltered, the other major contenders on her side of the women’s draw advanced in style.
After losing just one set on her way to the Wimbledon title a year ago, Garbine Muguruza picked up exactly where she left off, beating British wild card Naomi Broady 6-2 7-5.
Top seed Simona Halep, playing her first match since winning the French Open, recorded a comfortable 6-2 6-4 win over Japan’s Kurumi Nara.
Johanna Konta, who knocked out Halep on the way to the semifinals a year ago, beat Natalia Vikhlyantseva of Russia 7-5 7-6(7).
There were also surprise defeats on the men’s side of the draw as both David Goffin and Dominic Thiem lost.
The 51st-ranked Matthew Ebden upset 10th-seeded Goffin of Belgium 6-4 6-3 6-4, before seventh-seeded Thiem retired hurt with his opponent, Marcos Baghdatis, leading 6-4 7-5 2-0. American Jack Sock, seeded 18th, was up by two sets but still lost
6-7(5) 6-7(3) 6-4 7-5 6-2 to Matteo Berrettini.
There were no such difficulties for former champions Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, who both won in straight sets.
Nadal moved into the second round with a 6-3 6-3 6-2 win over Dudi Sela of Israel, while Djokovic eased past Tennys Sandgren of the United States 6-3
6-1 6-2.