Defending women's champion Marketa Vondrousova suffers early exit at Wimbledon

By Can Erozden

Defending women's singles champion Marketa Vondrousova suffered a shocking exit at the 2024 Wimbledon's first round on Tuesday.

Spain's Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, 21, won against Czech sixth seed Vondrousova with straight sets of 6-4 and 6-2 to advance to the second round in London.

"I’m really happy, I think this is one of the most important moments in my life, in my career – in this court, this is amazing," Bouzas Maneiro said after ousting the 2023 winner.

Elena Rybakina from Kazakhstan and American Jessica Pegula also got through to the women's singles second round.

Fourth seed Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, won against Romania's Elena-Gabriela Ruse with a 6-3, 6-1 win.

Pegula, the world No. 5, beat fellow American Ashlyn Krueger 6-2, 6-0 in less than an hour to advance.

2024 Wimbledon, one of the four Grand Slams of the year, started on Monday, and is set to wrap up on July 14.