• Sharapova beaten 6-7, 7-6, 6-4 by Vitalia Diatchenko
• Kvitova’s 2018 form eludes her as Sasnovich wins 6-4, 4-6, 6-0
Sometimes you can just want things too badly. Late last night the former champion Maria Sharapova, struggling to reassert herself a year after returning from a doping ban, suffered her first ever defeat in the opening round at Wimbledon, ousted 6-7, 7-6, 6-4 by the Russian qualifier Vitalia Diatchenko, the world No 138. And Petra Kvitova, the pre‑tournament favourite after five titles in 2018 and near-perfect preparation, endured a shock first-round defeat as she was stunned 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 by the world No 50, Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus.
Sharapova, the 2004 champion, was one game from victory when she led by a set and 5-2 against the 27-year-old Diatchenko, who had lost in the first round in each of her previous two visits. But as the sun went down, the 31-year-old allowed Diatchenko back into the match. Again Sharapova had the edge in the decider, leading 4-3 with a break but Diatchenko broke for 5-4 and an eighth double-fault completed Sharapova’s misery.
Written by Simon Cambers at Wimbledon
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/jul/03/garbine-muguruza-maria-sharapova-kvitova-wimbledon-2018 under the title “Former champions Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova fall at the first hurdle”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
