Wimbledon: Petra Kvitova stunned in Round 1

Petra Kvitova during her first round match against Aliaksandra Sasnovich in London yesterday. Pic/AFP

Petra Kvitova crashed out of Wimbledon in the first round yesterday as the two-time champion was stunned 4-6, 6-4, 0-6 by unheralded Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich. Kvitova was the bookmakers' favourite for the women's title after an impressive return to form this year.

The Czech had won five titles in 2018, including the grass-court tournament at Birmingham last weekend, while amassing an WTA Tour-leading 38 match victories. But Kvitova, who won Wimbledon in 2011 and 2014, had insisted before the tournament that she wasn't the top contender after suffering a hamstring problem that forced her to pull out of Eastbourne last week.

Aliaksandra Sasnovich

Champ Muguruza on track
Spain's Garbine Muguruza opened her Wimbledon title defence with a 6-2, 7-5 win over British wild card Naomi Broady yesterday. Muguruza is bidding to reach her third Wimbledon final.

Vera easy for Kerber
Germany's Angelique Kerber got her Wimbledon campaign off to the best possible start after registering a straights-sets victory over Vera Zvonareva. Kerber, a 2016 finalist here and former World No. 1, beat the Russian 7-5, 6-3.

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