One year ago, Marketa Vondrousova stunned the tennis world by defeating one higher-ranked player after another to eventually become the 2023 Wimbledon champion. The unexpected victor stunned Ons Jabeur, the clear favourite of both punters and fans, in the final and became the first unseeded player to win the title at the All England Club thanks to her steady and consistent performance.
But what a difference a year makes.
On Tuesday, playing the first match on Centre Court as is customary for the reigning champion, Vondrousova, 25, found herself on the other end of an upset. Now seeded No. 6 and with 2,000 ranking points to defend, Vondrousova had no answers for Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, a relative unknown currently ranked a career-best No. 83, and suffered a 6-4, 6-2 defeat in just 67 minutes. Playing in only the third major tournament main draw of her career, it marked the first Grand Slam victory for Bouzas Maneiro, 21, and her first win over a player ranked in the top 40.
The victory of a lifetime ✨
Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, 21, beats defending champion Marketa Vondrousova 6-4, 6-2 on Centre Court#Wimbledon image.twitter.com/16PSpOvi0I
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 2, 2024
“I think this is one of the most important moments of my life, of my career,” Bouzas Maneiro told the crowd after the match. “On this pitch, this is incredible.”
As Bouzas Maneiro sobbed and held her head in her hands, a dazed Vondrousova quickly gathered her bag and headed onto the court. With this loss, Vondrousova, who is expected to drop out of the top 10 in the next rankings, became only the fourth Wimbledon player in tournament history to lose in her first match as defending champion, joining Lleyton Hewitt (2003), Steffi Graf (1994) and Manuel Santana (1967).
While it probably wasn't much of a consolation for Vondrousova, her defeat was certainly less shocking than that of Graf, the other woman on the unenviable list. Graf, who lost to Lori McNeil in straight sets, was a five-time champion at the All England Club at the time and had not lost a match at the tournament since 1990. She went on to win Wimbledon titles in 1995 and 1996.
Vondrousova is now also the ninth woman in the Open era to lose her first-round match as the reigning champion at any major tournament. Others to do so include Emma Raducanu at the 2022 US Open, Barbora Krejcikova at the 2022 Roland Garros, Jelena Ostapenko at the 2018 Roland Garros, Angelique Kerber at the 2017 US Open and Jennifer Capriati at the 2003 Australian Open.
There had been doubts about Vondrousova's ability to play even before the tournament began. She fell during her second-round match at an earlier event in Berlin, causing a right hip injury and forcing her to withdraw from the match. While she said she was a “little bit scared” about the injury when speaking to the media on Tuesday, she said she had felt fine in practice and did not believe it was a factor during the match.
“I don't think that was the reason. I was nervous from the beginning,” Vondrousova said. “I mean, she was playing a good match as well. That was a bit difficult as well. Yeah, overall it was very difficult… I feel like everyone expects you to win. That's difficult as well. I was just happy to be back on Centre Court. Today didn't go as planned.”
Bouzas Maneiro will next face Cristina Bucsa, who defeated Ana Bogdan in the third set tiebreak on Tuesday.
