Wimbledon: Sloane Stephens, the 2017 US Open champion who is languishing at No. 73 in world rankings, caused an upset as she defeated No. 10 seed and two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova 6-3, 6-4 in the opening round on Monday.
The American took just 77 minutes to hammer her opponent from the Czech Republic, who won here in 2011 and 2014.
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An impressive performance 💪@SloaneStephens defeats two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova 6-3, 6-4 to reach the second round #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/LlWiAptOQz
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 28, 2021 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
">An impressive performance 💪@SloaneStephens defeats two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova 6-3, 6-4 to reach the second round #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/LlWiAptOQz
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 28, 2021An impressive performance 💪@SloaneStephens defeats two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova 6-3, 6-4 to reach the second round #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/LlWiAptOQz
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 28, 2021
Sloane was beaten in the very first game of the match, but then never lost serve again and broke the left-hander thrice during the course of the match.
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Sloane won 78 per cent on her first serve while Petra could win only 66 per cent.
The 2017 Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza of Spain and Belarusian No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka also advanced to the second round.
While Garbine thrashed Fiona Ferro of France, 6-0, 6-1, Aryna beat Romanian qualifier Monica Niculescu 6-1, 6-4.
Garbine, who is a former world No. 1 and is currently the No. 11 seed, dispatched her opponent in just 50 minutes.
The 27-year-old Garbine will next face qualifier Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove.
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Lesley, from the Netherlands, shocked two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 6-3 for her first win in the main draw of a Grand Slam. This was only her third appearance in the main draw of a major.
IANS
