Wimbledon favorite Petra Kvitova loses in the first round

WIMBLEDON, England – Aliaksandra Sasnovich has lived one of her favorite adages about the egalitarian nature of her sport by launching one of the biggest upheavals of the first round of Wimbledon.

she said earlier this year. "It's the tennis, you know? The ball is round."

Sasnovich, ranked 50th, narrowly hit the eighth seed, Petra Kvitova, during the match, Tuesday, in three sets , 6-4, 4-6, 6-0.

Kvitova, champion in 2011 and in 14, was the favorite of the tipsters to win the women's title.

She was also last year's favorite at Wimbledon, only her third tournament on tour after a knife attack. in her house, she injured her left hand and forced her to go on tour for five months. When she lost in the second round to Madison Brengle, ranked 95th, it was easy to dismiss her favorite status as being largely sentimental.

This year, however, Kvitova was a logical choice. She has won five leading tournaments in 2018, most recently two weeks ago on grbad in Birmingham, England. She has even won 13 straight matches on clay, her least favorite surface.

But on the biggest stages this year, Kvitova fell flat. She lost in the first round of the Australian Open and in the third round of the Open de France.

"The nerves were there again," she said Tuesday. "I do not know: After winning in Birmingham, Kvitova said that his problem in the Grand Slam events was simply a lack of success.

" Probably, I still want it a lot, "Kvitova said with a smile. "I just made a joke that probably I will be pbading the Grand Slam for years to come. I will see how everything is going. "

At the beginning of her career, Kvitova had excelled in the biggest tournaments while fighting for consistency in the base rounds, and now she has the opposite problem, because the stakes become clearer for her.

" I think I did not really care so much before, "she said." I'm worried – unfortunately – now. "

Maria Sharapova, who won Wimbledon in 2004 and reached the final again in 2011, also lost Tuesday, to the 132nd qualifier Vitalia Diatchenko, 6-7 (3), 7 -6 (3), 6-4

Sharapova, 24th seeded, who had last played at Wimbledon in 2015, had led 5-2 in the second set.It lost twice in the first round of a Grand Slam tournament for the second time since the French Open of 2003.

Diatchenko played in a tennis match against Sharapova, beating 22 winners with a forehand against only 10 for S Nearly three-quarters of the match points lasted four rounds or less.

"She's gone," Sharapova said about Diatchenko. "She played extremely aggressive, I was playing a bit too defensively for what I should have done, yes, she was there to win, and she did it."

In l. together, 21 seeds – 11 women and 10 men – lost in the first round of Wimbledon these past two days.

Sasnovich, a sparkling Belarusian, made a breakthrough in the first week of the season, when, ranked 88th and qualified, she reached the final of a packed WTA tournament in Brisbane. When she learned after the draw ceremony that she would face left-footer Kvitova in the first round, she found a left-handed teammate named Mike and practiced with him for four days.

"Everyone is equal here, everyone wants to win," said Sasnovich. "Every day you have to come and show your good tennis if you want a good result."

Sasnovich, 24, said she was still able to unlock much more by herself – and that she should do it soon. [19659002"IwanttoimproveandimprovemyconfidencethatIhaveagoodpotential"shesaid"Jenmeshasneveropened100%opento5055at24years'time"

Sasnovich also led Belarus to the United States. Fed Cup final against the United States, which they hosted in Minsk in November. Before this final, Alexander Lukashenko, the president of the country, met the team privately for 20 minutes

Sasnovich's victory over Kvitova took place on the day of the independence of Belarus

"Everyone is writing today."

Several other outsiders had reason to celebrate on Tuesday Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, former top 10 player who now ranks 56th after injuries, defeated Caroline Garcia, seeded sixth, 7-6 (2), 6-3 – Four of the top eight seeds in the women are out of the tournament

But the seeded Simona Halep and number 3 Garbiñe Muguruza, the defending champion, needed less than three hours to qualify, and on the central court, Marcos Baghdatis, ranked 95th, advanced to Dominic Thiem, seventh seed at Roland Garros last month. Ebden defeated David Goffin, 10th seed, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 Ebden, 30, had never beaten a Top-10 player at a Grand Slam tournament.

His victory was the highlight of a strong day for the Australians, who won seven of their nine matches. [ad_2]
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