Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova creates unwanted history amid Lleyton Hewitt detail

Marketa Vondrousova has become the first defending champion to be knocked out of Wimbledon in the first round since Lleyton Hewitt in 2003 after going down in straight sets to Jessica Bouzas Maneiro. Twelve months on from becoming the first unseeded woman to be Wimbledon singles champion, the sixth seed made more history, this time not the kind she was hoping for, as she was comprehensively beaten 6-4 6-2 on Tuesday.

The loss means the Czech has become the first defending ­women’s singles champion to be defeated in round one since Steffi Graf was beaten by Lori McNeil in 1994. Hewitt was the last male champion to lose at the first hurdle, beaten by Ivo ­Karlovic in 2003.

Vondrousova had pulled out of the warm-up event in Berlin after a bad fall. And the Czech showed ill effects of that incident on her return to the court against ­Bouzas Maneiro. Vondrousova failed to find any rhythm in the opening game serving three double-faults and from there never managed to get herself into the match.

Following the defending Wimbledon champion's exit, Vondrousova said while winning the grand slam was an honour she felt intense pressure heading out to Centre Court. “It’s tough to go out defending the title,” she said.

“Today I was a bit scared because of my leg, too. But I don’t think that was the reason. I felt nervous from the start. Overall it was very tough. It’s tough feelings also to go back. I feel like everybody just expects you to win, maybe. That’s tough, too. I was happy to be back on the Centre Court. It just didn’t go as planned today.”

Ranked No. 83 in the world, Bouzas Maneiro had only played a single warm‑up event on grass in Italy - which she lost - but looked as comfortable as ever as she took advantage of Vondrousova's frailties. “I’m really happy,” Bouzas Maneiro said. “This is one of the most amazing moments of my life and my career.

"I was a little nervous at first but I don’t know, it’s so nice here, I felt at home on Centre Court. Marketa’s a great player, she won here last year, so I had no pressure. I just wanted to enjoy the match.”

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Iga Swiatek decision pays dividends

Having won her fourth French Open title in June, Iga Swiatek decided to sit out of the lead-up tournaments for Wimbledon to give her body some rest. The world No.1 has never progressed past the quarter-finals at the All England Club and many feared the lack of practice on her bogey surface could result in an early exit.

But in the first round, she looked as dominant as ever beating crafty American Sofia Kenin, 6-3, 6-4. Kenin presented Swiatek with some early issues as her strong ground strokes put the Pole on the backfoot. But Swiatek quickly settled into the match, secured an early break, and from there was in total control.

Swiatek dropped only six points on first serve in the match in a performance that oozed confidence and class. “For sure it was a solid start and not an easy draw,” said Swiatek after her 20th win in a row.

“­Nowadays on WTA tour it’s pretty easy to play against grand slam ­champions, even in the first round. There’s no time to kind of get into the tournament slowly. On this surface, it’s not about the result for me but it’s about the progress and how I’m going to feel if I’m doing things better than last year. On the practice court, I’ve been feeling like every year I am playing a bit better than last year. I’ve had a great start to the season so I could come here and not worry about points or anything and just focus on the progress.”

with agencies