Kvitova, men’s stars cruise to 2nd round
LONDON—It looked all too easy for the champions at the All England Club. It was another story, though, for one of last year’s finalists and for one of the highest seeded women in the draw.
Defending women’s champion Petra Kvitova and former men’s winners Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray all won their first-round matches at Wimbledon on Tuesday in straight sets.
The big names imposed themselves on Day 2 of the grass-court Grand Slam as London basked in warm, sunny conditions.
But, late in the day, there were two major casualties in the women’s field.
First, Eugenie Bouchard, who was runner-up at Wimbledon last year, fell in the opening round, losing 7-6 (3), 6-4 to Duan Ying-Ying—a 117th-ranked Chinese qualifier who was playing at Wimbledon for the first time and had never before won a Grand Slam match.
Bouchard seemed to be the new star of women’s tennis last year when she reached at least the semifinals at the first three Grand Slam tournaments. She made a stirring run to the Wimbledon final, where she lost to Kvitova.
This year, the 21-year-old Canadian lost 10 of 11 matches in one stretch and also went out in the first round at the French Open.
Bouchard, who served 10 double-faults on Tuesday, said she was still hampered by the abdominal injury that forced her to retire from last week’s grass-court tournament in Eastbourne. She said she had been advised not to play at Wimbledon, but decided she couldn’t pass up the chance.
“I felt very unprepared for this match,” Bouchard said. “I hadn’t practiced that much. My timing was off. ... It’s not an excuse because I chose to play.”
A few minutes after Bouchard’s defeat, the player she beat in last year’s semifinals also was eliminat- ed.
No. 3 Simona Halep became the highest seeded player ousted so far, tumbling 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 to 106thranked Jana Cepelova of Slovakia. The Romanian, who also reached the French Open final last year, was treated near the end of the first set after losing a toenail. Halep, who is not considered a grass-court specialist, hurt her chances with seven double-faults and 34 unforced errors.
Halep said she had no expectations of doing well this year.
“I knew it would be a difficult tournament for me,” she said. “I didn’t expect to lose in first round.”
In keeping with Wimbledon tradition, Kvitova had the honor of playing the first match on Centre Court on the second day as the reigning women’s champion.
The second-seeded Czech wasted no time in reasserting her dominance on her favorite court, overpowering Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands 6-1, 6-0 in just 35 minutes.