Sharapova, Kvitova crash out, Nadal, Djokovic through
missing 2016 through a drugs ban and 2017 due to injury, gave up the match on her 11th double fault.
It was her earliest exit at a Slam
2010 Australian Open.
“It’s always tough to assess your
loss but I won’t shy away from learning from my errors,” said 31-year-old Sharapova.
Eighth seed Kvitova was the bookmakers’ favourite for a third Wimbledon crown after winning
grass- court tournament at Birmingham last weekend, while amassing an WTA Tour-leading 38 match victories.
But she slumped to a disappointing 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 loss to Sasnovich.
“When I was younger, I played better on the Grand Slams than the other tournaments. Now is the time when I’m playing better on the other tournaments than the Grand Slams,” said the 28-year-old Czech.
Kvitova is the fourth top 10 wom-
Number four Sloane Stephens
were eliminated on Monday.
France’s Caroline Garcia, seeded six, was also beaten Tuesday, going down 7-6 (7/2), 6-3 to Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic.
World number one Nadal breezed into the second round with a 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 win over Israel’s Dudi Sela as the Spaniard returned to action
11th French Open title.
Nadal, the Wimbledon champion in 2008 and 2010, also managed to avoid falling victim to a player ranked outside the world top 100 for what would have been
the All England Club.
“I’m just happy to be through of course and yes, this match gives me positive feelings,” said Nadal after seeing off world number 127 Sela.
Nadal, the 17-time major winner, has not got past the fourth
to Novak Djokovic in 2011.
Djokovic reached the second round with a 6-3, 6-1, 6-2 win over Tennys Sandgren of the United States.
Djokovic, seeded 12, was back at the tournament where last year he was forced to retire from his quarterfinal against Tomas Berdych with an elbow injury.
“I thought it was overall quite a solid match. I think he made a lot of errors,” said Djokovic.