A new women's singles champion will be crowned at Wimbledon this year.

The defending women's champion, Marketa Vondrousova, has been knocked out of the grass-court grand slam in the first round by Jessica Bouzas Maneiro of Spain.

This was the first time in 30-years that a women’s singles champion has failed to advance past the first round, and the later player to fail do so was the German great, Steffi Graf.

Bouzas Maneiro had no trouble in reaching the second round with a 6-4 and 6-2 win against the outgoing champion.

Bouzas Maneiro said she had nothing to lose against Vondrousova and the goal was to just enjoy every moment on Centre Court.

“I’m really happy, and I think this is one of the most important moments in my life, in my career – in this court, this is amazing,” Bouzas Maneiro said.

“I was thinking just to enjoy the moment - Marketa is one of the best players in the world. She won here last year, so I had no pressure, just had to enjoy myself, enjoy this tournament.

“I was just trying to be free playing and I did it so I’m happy for that.”

“I surprised with myself, honestly. At the start I was a little bit nervous, but since the first game I felt the atmosphere was so nice, everything is so elegant here. I was comfortable, I felt at home on the Centre Court for the first time.

“We have had a lot of tournaments, so many tough times, so we have to enjoy this moment. We’ve been working, playing hard for these moments.”

Meanwhile, the 5th seeded Elena Rybakina advanced with a 6-3 and 6-1 win against Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania, and the 5th seeded Jessica Pegula beat her American compatriot Ashlyn Krueger 6-2 and 6-0.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport