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Tennis fans gutted over Daria Saville moment at Wimbledon

Seen here, Aussie wildcard Daria Saville in the first round of Wimbledon in 2022.
Aussie wildcard Daria Saville's hopes of a strong run at Wimbledon were dashed in the first round. Pic: Getty

Australian wildcard Daria Saville has crashed out of the opening round at Wimbledon after failing to build on her incredible run of recent form.

Saville succumbed to cramps but battled bravely in a 7-5 3-6 7-5 first-round loss to Bulgaria's Viktoriya Tomova.

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Hopes were high for Saville going into Wimbledon, after an incredible resurgence from the Aussie wildcard this year.

Having dropped outside the world’s top 600 after battling foot and Achilles injuries, Saville has surged back into form and the top 100 this year.

World No.2 Ons Jabeur and Elise Mertens are among the top-50 scalps that Saville has beaten this year, while the Aussie also stunned two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in the second round of the French Open.

However, the 28-year-old's strong run of recent form came undone against Tomova, despite a late fightback from Saville.

The Aussie refused to throw in the towel after jarring her right knee in the sixth game of the deciding set and falling 5-2 behind.

Saville somehow managed to clawing her way back to 5-5, before Tomova regained her composure to force Saville to serve to stay in the match.

As she did in the first set though, Saville once again dropped serve to hand Tomova victory.

A dejected Saville revealed afterwards that she had been suffering from stress-related cramping, which started at the end of the first set.

Her loss capped off a brutal day for Australia's women, with qualifiers Maddison Inglis, Zoe Hives and Astra Sharma and Jaimee Fourlis all losing their first round matches.

Aussie women endure tough day at Wimbledon

Hives' inspired Wimbledon campaign ended earlier on Tuesday with a gallant loss to Greek Maria Sakkari.

On the comeback trail following a lengthy battle with debilitating Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, Hives earned her way into the main draw with three qualifying wins at Roehampton.

But Sakkari proved a bridge too far, taking out the 26-year-old 6-1 6-4 in 78 minutes.

True to her character, Hives also put up up a fight, staging a mini comeback from 5-2 down in the second set to extend Monday's match.

But she eventually succumbed to the world No.5 on Court 3.

Ranked No.571 in the world after being unable to play for more than two years while fighting chronic fatigue, Hives' consolation is a career pay day of Stg 50,000 ($A88,000).

Seen here, Australia's Zoe Hives returning serve in her first round loss to Greece's Maria Sakkari at Wimbledon.
Australia's Zoe Hives returns serve in her first round loss to Greece's Maria Sakkari at Wimbledon. Pic: Getty (GLYN KIRK via Getty Images)

Sharma's appearance in the main draw was also short-lived, with the West Australian losing her rain-delayed first-round match with Tatjana Maria 4-6 6-3 6-4.

The departures of Saville, Hives and Sharma followed Inglis's exit on Monday with a 5-7 6-3 6-4 loss to Dalma Galfi.

Ajla Tomljanovic saved Australia from a women's wipe-out with an impressive first-round victory, upsetting 18th seed Jil Teichmann 6-2 6-3.

Teichmann was fresh off a breakout run to the last 16 at Roland Garros but Tomljanovic swept past the Swiss southpaw in 77 minutes to book a date on Thursday with American qualifier Catherine Harrison.

"I knew she's had an incredible year so far and that kind of confidence, you can't buy it," Tomljanovic said.

"It's just from the whole year, you can feel it. It always comes out in tight moments.

"So I knew that if I wanted to win today, I really had to kind of step up my game and just play the grass court tennis that I know I can."

with AAP

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