4 shocking results from Wimbledon 2024 Day 2 ft. defending champion Marketa Vondrousova, Sebastian Korda among the big names to be sent packing
Marketa Vondrousova became the biggest name to bow out of the 2024 Wimbledon Championships at the end of Day 2 on July 2. The Czech was the women's singles defending champion.
Day 2 of the 2024 Wimbledon Championships featured several heavyweights, including seven-time champion and second seed Novak Djokovic, 2022 champion Elena Rybakina, and two-time runner-up Ons Jabeur. All three registered comfortable straight-set wins in their first-round contests. Rain affected the day and forced a halt to play on outdoor courts, causing delays.
Other big victors of the day were Stefanos Tsitsipas, Holger Rune, Alexander Zverev, Hubert Hurkacz, and Alex de Minaur on the men's side, and Iga Swiatek, Jessica Pegula, and Jelena Ostapenko on the women's side. On the flip side, there were a few big upsets as well.
With that said, let's take a look at the four most shocking results from Day 2 of the 2024 Wimbledon Championships:
#4 Anastasia Potapova
Anastasia Potapova came to the Wimbledon Championships after a semifinal finish at the Rothesay Classic in Birmingham. She defeated Elina Avenasyan, Lucia Bronzetti, and Barbora Krejcikova before losing to Ajla Tomljanovic. This was followed by a first-round exit at the Rothesay International in Eastbourne.
The Russian was unseeded at SW19 and began her campaign against Bernarda Pera. Both women exchanged breaks in the first set, which Potapova was able to bag via a tiebreaker. Pera came back in the second set by breaking Potapova. The decider was a real tussle. The American eventually came out on top 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (6).
The result would be a tough pill to swallow for Potapova, who reached the third round at SW19 last year. Bernarda Pera will now face No. 23 seed Caroline Garcia in the second round.
#3 Sebastian Korda
Sebastian Korda uffered his second successive opening-round exit at Wimbledon. He was seeded No. 20 at the tournament and was in terrific form heading up to it. The American finished as the runner-up at the Libema Open in the Netherlands and reached the semifinals at the cinch Championships.
Korda faced lucky loser and promising French talent Giovani Mpetshi Perricard in his first round match. The contest was as hotly contested as possible, with the first four sets going into tiebreakers, with both players splitting them 2-2. Mpetshi Perricard was finally able to get an edge after breaking Korda for the first time in the final set and eventually won the match 7-6 (5), 6-7 (4), 7-6 (6), 6-7 (4), 6-3 in three hours and 21 minutes.
The Frenchman fired 51 aces past the American and saved all 11 breakpoints on his serve to keep his serving record intact. The disappointing result was Sebastian Korda's second consecutive first-round loss at Wimbledon, having lost to Jiri Vesely in the opening round last year.
#2 Andrey Rublev
Andrey Rublev finishes this year's grass season without a single win following a disastrous first-round display at Wimbledon. The Russian was seeded sixth in the men's singles draw and came to London after an opening-round loss at the Terra Wortmann Open in Halle.
Rublev began his campaign at SW19 against Francisco Comesana. The Argentine was making its debut at the grass slam and looked natural on the surface. He broke Rublev four times throughout the match to outlast the Russian in a four-set affair 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (5).
This was the biggest victory for World No. 122 ranked Comesana and just his second on the grass at any level of the professional tour.
#1 Marketa Vondrousova
The most shocking result at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships has been the ouster of defending women's singles champion Marketa Vondrousova. The Czech won her maiden Grand Slam title at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club after beating Ons Jabeur in the title contest. She had defeated five seeded players, including Jessica Pegula and Jabeur, en route to the title.
Her title defense did not go as planned, to say the least, as Marketa Vondrousova, seeded sixth, lost to World No. 83 Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in the opening round. The 25-year-old looked nervous and could not get her game off the ground. Bouzas Maneiro converted all five breakpoints to emerge victorious 6-4, 6-2 in just 67 minutes.
Marketa Vondrousova's seven double faults did not help her chances in the matches. With this loss, she became only the second women's singles defending champion to lose in the first round in the Open Era after Steffi Graf in 1994.