Marketa Vondrousova joins Steffi Graf in unwanted piece of Wimbledon history

Vondrousova became only the second defending champion to exit the women’s singles in the first round

Marketa Vondrousova is out of Wimbledon (Mike Egerton/PA) (PA Wire)

Reigning Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova joined Steffi Graf in the history books after she lost in straight sets to Jessica Bouzas Maneiro to suffer a shock first-round exit.

Vondrousova was a surprise winner at the All England Club last year and returned to Centre Court on Tuesday to begin the defence of her crown, but struggled physically as she tasted 6-4 6-2 defeat inside 67 minutes.

It made Vondrousova only the second defending women’s Wimbledon champion to crash out in the first round after Graf did in 1994 to Lori McNeil.

Prior to her 2023 success, Vondrousova had only won one main-draw match in SW19 and arrived in the capital after an injury scare in Berlin two weeks ago.

World number six Vondrousova insisted ahead of the tournament she was fully fit, but she had three double-faults in her first service game as she was broken immediately.

Further breaks were exchanged between the duo, but Spaniard Bouzas Maneiro, ranked 83rd in the world, sealed the opener inside 40 minutes.

Jessica Bouzas Maneiro celebrates her victory (Mike Egerton/PA) (PA Wire)

Defending champion Steffi Graf leaves Centre Court at Wimbledon after losing to Lori McNeil (PA) (PA Archive)

Vondrousova sent down another double-fault at the start of the second to be broken again and appeared to be growing frustrated with her ailing health.

It failed to distract Bouzas Maneiro though who continued to play her shots and the 21-year-old secured a memorable first grand slam victory with a wonderful backhand winner, which kissed the white chalk to the delight of Centre Court.

It was a different story for Vondrousova and she raced off the court after seeing her title defence end in just over an hour.