Marketa Vondrousova suffered a shock 6-4, 6-2 defeat in her first match of Wimbledon 2024 against Jessica Bouzas Maneiro at Centre Court on Tuesday.
In her straight-set loss, Vondrousova became the first defending champion of women’s Wimbledon to lose in the first round since 1994.
Vondrousovamade history last year when she clinched the Wimbledon title and became the first unseeded woman to win the trophy at the grass-court slam.
The Czech was seeded No. 6 in this year’s Wimbledon but things didn’t go her way at the Centre Court on Tuesday as she was not at her best and ended up losing to world No. 83 who recorded her first-ever win in Grand Slams.
Jessica celebrated her win to the fullest and said that this was one of the most important wins of her career. She further added that throughout the match, the only think she was thinking was to enjoy the moment and that helped her.
"I am really happy. I think this is one of the most important moments in my life and career," Jessica said during an on-court interview in which she was lauded by the London crowd.
"I was just thinking about enjoying the moment while trying to play one of the finest women's singles players. She won the title last year here. I was thinking that I had no pressure and wanted to enjoy myself. I tried to be free while playing. I did it and I am happy for that," she added.
"I am surprised with myself. At the beginning, I was a bit nervous. But since the first game, the atmosphere here was so good. It felt like playing at home.”