Wimbledon: Top favourite Kvitova already out, Halep and Muguruza safely ahead

The first round of the 2018 Wimbledon tournament has already seen a bang for the buck: Czech Petra Kvitova, who is the most highly traded bookmaker, has already retired. Simona Halep, the number one of the tournament, went on without any problems.

After defending the title in Birmingham just ten days ago, Petra Kvitova’s third Wimbledon victory was still on the horizon: The Czech immediately felt at home again on grass and won her fifth tournament victory of the season.

Kvitova’s withdrawal after their opening win over Kateryna Bondarenko in Eastbourne was seen more as a precaution. Fatigue, so the assumption, even if Kvitova gave a thigh injury as reason.

But now the run for the next career highlight is already over: Aliksandra Sasnovich, who reached the finals of the Fed Cup with Belarus last year, made life difficult for the favourite right from the start and finally won 6:4, 4:6 and 6:0.

This could pave the way for a successful campaign by world number one Simona Halep. The Romanian would have been Kvitova’s opponent in the quarter-finals according to Setzung, now the tournament tree looks much more inviting for Halep.

The number one of the tournament did not let anything burn against Kurumi Nara, won 6:2 and 6:4, Halep now meets Saisai Zheng in round two.

Defending champion Garbine Muguruza did not shine at her first appearance, but won against British Naomi Broady 6-2 and 7-5, but Caroline Garcia, who was seeded sixth, was eliminated somewhat surprisingly: The French woman was down 6-7 (2) and 3-6 to Belinda Bencic.

Here the single tableau of the ladies in Wimbledon