In a shocking upset, unseeded qualifier Jana Cepelova beat Garbine Muguruza in straight sets at Wimbledon on Thursday, knocking the world No. 2 in the second round of the tournament.
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Earlier, as the tournament scrambled to get back on schedule after two rainy days, Venus Williams, the oldest player in the women’s draw, needed almost two hours to get past 20-year-old qualifier Maria Sakkari 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.
The second-seeded men’s player fared much better than Muguruza, as Andy Murray swept to a 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 victory on Centre Court over Lu Yen-Hsun of Taiwan.
Regardless of the scoreline, Muguruza always remained a threat, but Cepelova was able to seal victory in under an hour for one of the biggest wins of her career.
The Slovakian will play No. 28 seed Lucie Safarova in the third round.
Sakkari was aged four when Williams won the first of her Wimbledon titles in 2000 and, despite a nervy start, the 115-ranked qualifier put up a stern test for the seven-time Grand Slam victor out on the smallest of the venue’s show courts.
Before this tournament, she hadn’t qualified for the main draw at a major since Wimbledon past year.
Williams, the 36-year-old eighth seed, next plays Russian 29th seed Darya Kasatkina for a place in the last 16.
German fourth seed and Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber beat Varvara Lepchenko of the United States 6-1, 6-4. It’s not the first time she has knocked off a top player. “I m so happy”, said Cepelova. “And I try to keep winning against these champions players”, Cepelova said.
Spain’s David Ferrer, the 13th seed, lost to fellow 34-year-old – and grass court specialist – Nicolas Mahut 6-1, 6-4, 6-3.
No. 11 Timea Bacsinszky beat Luksika Kumkhum 6-4, 6-2, Annika Beck ousted Britain’s Heather Watson 3-6, 6-0, 12-10, and France’s Kristina Mladenovic, seeded No. 31, was eliminated 6-3, 6-3 by Aliaksandra Sasnovich. “But she played with no fear, was trying a lot of stuff, and I have to be prepared for that”.
Muguruza tried to battle back from 5-1 down but Cepelova came through with a clutch forehand victor that kissed the line to close out the opening set.
“I started playing more aggressive and more solid”, the 26-year-old said. “But I think the loss was a combination of things” – Muguruza finally said.
Stephens, seeded No. 18, defeated China’s Peng Shuai 7-6 (5), 6-2.
“You’re frightful, you know what you did”. I like to play against biggest stars, of course, against the champions. It’s my first time after a great result, coming to another Grand Slam.
Ana Konjuh of Croatia holds her ankle after falling during her women’s singles match against Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland on day four of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Thursday, June 30, 2016.
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Milos Raonic equalled the fastest serve seen at Wimbledon this year as the Canadian sixth seed blasted past Italian Andreas Seppi 7-6(5) 6-4 6-2 to reach the third round. Even though you want to play, I don’t want to miss a day, but sometimes it’s better to rest because it’s going to make you play better. I’m doing my way, trying to prepare every match, trying to be focused every practice.
