Defending champion Marketa Vondrousova admits nerves played a role in her surprise 6-4, 6-2, loss to Spanish world No.83 Jessica Bouzas Maneiro at Wimbledon on Tuesday. 

Returning to Center Court 12 months after she stunned Ons Jabeur in straight sets to claim the title, the error-stricken Czech was out of sorts against Manerio. Somebody who is a tricky opponent but hadn’t beaten a top 10 player on the Tour or won a main draw match at a Grand Slam before today. Vondrousova has now failed to win a match in two out of her three most recent appearances at major tournaments with the only exception being her run to the quarter-finals of the French Open. 

“It was a tough match. I think she played a great match. I wasn’t at my best.” She said of her latest performance.

It is the third time this year that Vondrousova has lost to somebody ranked outside the top 50 after Dayana Yastremska and Anhelina Kalinina. Coming into the event, she told reporters to expect ‘many surprises on the grass.’ Her preparation for Wimbledon was far from ideal after she suffered a nasty slip whilst playing in Berlin that forced her to withdraw from her match. 

“I think practice was fine but today I was a bit scared because of my leg, too. I don’t think this was the reason (for her loss).” She said. 
“It’s a tough feeling to go back (to Wimbledon as the defending champion).
“I feel like everybody just expects you to win. I was happy to be back on the Centre Court. It just didn’t go as planned today.”

The last woman to defend their title at SW19 was Serena Williams in 2016. Since then, there have been plenty of upsets in the women’s draw with the past seven editions being won by seven different players. A situation that some blame on the grass and the limited amount of time players have to play on the surface compared to others.

However, Vondrousova believes her biggest issue was nerves. 

“I was really nervous since the start. I couldn’t shake it off. I’m going to be back stronger, I hope.” She concluded. 

Vondrousova’s rapid exit from Wimbledon makes her the first women’s Wimbledon champion to lose in the first round the following year since Steffi Graf in 1994. She will leave the top 10 following the conclusion of this tournament. 

There are now two former Wimbledon champions left in the 2024 draw on the women’s side. Elena Rybakina won her first round match earlier today against Romania’s Elena-Gabriela Ruse. Meanwhile, Angelique Kerber is yet to play. 

Botic van de Zandschulp knows what it is like to go through the highs and lows as a professional tennis player. 

The Dutch 28-year-old is best remembered for his run to the quarter-finals of the 2021 US Open, where he upset Casper Ruud and Diego Schwartzman. In that tournament, he was the only person to take a set off Daniil Medvedev, who went on to claim the title. The following year, he reached the last 16 at Wimbledon and peaked at a ranking high of 22nd in the world. He is yet to win a title but is a two-time runner-up at the Bavarian International Tennis Championships in Germany. 

There have also been periods of frustration for Zandschulp who is currently ranked 97th in the world after briefly dropping out of the top 100 between April and May. That was the first time he had been outside the top 100 in almost four years. He has yet to win back-to-back main draw matches on the ATP Tour this year and recently spoke openly about contemplating his future in the sport. 

Although this year’s Wimbledon could provide an opportunity for him to regain some much-needed momentum in his career. He began his campaign at the Grand Slam on Monday with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, win over Britain’s Liam Broady. Following the victory, Ubitennis spoke with him about a range of subjects ranging from his future in tennis to the current state of the men’s game. 

UBITENNIS: Congratulations on your win. How do you feel about your latest performance? 

ZANDSCHULP: It was a little bit on and off, I think I started pretty well. In the first four games, I played well and then I took the foot off the gas a little bit, let him play a little bit better and gave him the feeling that maybe there was something to get.

I should have at 4-0 maybe make it five zero and then six one or six one in the end.  Give him the feeling that there’s that it’s going to be tough. He turned it a little bit around in a second and I think from the third on I started to play better and create more chances in his service game and I’m happy with the win overall. 

UBITENNIS: It has been a difficult season for you. How much confidence does this win give you?

ZANDSCHULP: I think Liam is a really good player on grass. I think he’s always doing well here in Wimbledon. I think it’s a tough tough draw. He is coming back from from injury. So I didn’t know didn’t know what to expect, how he was feeling or how he was playing. I’ve been practising really well but I think winning a match is always the best feeling there is. 

UBITENNIS: After the French Open, you spoke about how you were unsure about your future in the sport. Four weeks have passed since then so how are you feeling now? 

ZANDSCHULP: I took two weeks off after the Dutch tournament. Before coming here (to Wimbledon) I didn’t play matches.

I took the two weeks off to put everything in perspective. See how I was feeling about about everything and find the reasons why I’m playing actually. And yeah, I found the found the right reason. So at the moment, I’m enjoying to play and let’s see. Let’s see how long it keeps going like this. 

UBITENNIS: So do you have any goals now or is it a week-by-week journey?

ZANDSCHULP: No, I found the right reasons to play and the reasons why I enjoy playing tennis. Of course, I think tennis is a tough sport. You always have some periods where it’s going the right way and some periods when some tough losses, when you’re not playing well, not feeling well.

I think that’s part of the sport. I think it’s better to take a break, put everything in perspective and keep on playing. That’s what I did and now I’m here and enjoying being here on the court. 

UBITENNIS: You reached the fourth round of Wimbledon in 2022 and the quarter-finals of the US Open in 2021, do you feel you still have this level of tennis to go deep in a Grand Slam again? 

ZANDSCHULP: Yeah, I think so. I made the third round in Australia and the third round in Paris. I proved at all the slams that I’m capable of playing on all the surfaces.

I’m physically well. I don’t mind playing five sets. So physically, I think I’m up for it to go deep in the in the slams. Right now I think my tennis needs to be a little bit better and little bit more confident.

To go deep in the slams. I think the levels are never far away. I’m practising really well. I think eventually it’s coming back.

UBITENNIS: Thinking about men’s tennis over the last five years, what do you think has improved the most and what do you think can be better? 

ZANDSCHULP: The level is quite deep. I think these days everybody’s an unbelievably good player. Everyone is physically well. Everybody is quick on the court. Making a lot of balls but also have a lot of power I think these days.
Sinner and Alcaraz, I think at the moment they are dominating most of the tour. The tennis (level) now is quite deep. I think when you go into certain ATP tournaments, I think all of the players can win a tournament. In the 250s, in the 500s. 
Of course, what I said is if Alcaraz or Sinner playing, then it’s a different kind of situation. I think everybody’s making each other better. 
It’s not a guarantee. If you’re top 10, Top 20, or Top 30 that you stay there. The competition is very tough.

Note: Zandschulp goes on to speak about scheduling.

Everybody’s playing a lot. Some players are playing every week. I think that’s also new.
I think everybody’s playing more and more these days. When you’re Sinner or Alcaraz, you can choose a little bit more what you play and what you don’t play. But I think you have to be really good mentally, to be able to also skip tournaments, for example.
And don’t be afraid that if you don’t play that, you may lose two spots on the ranking or three spots because other people are playing. You need you need to take care of yourself physically, and mentally to play a good full year, I think.
I think it’s tough to play like some players are playing 35 tournaments,
everybody has their own approach. And I think that’s, that’s, that’s also a nice way these days. 

UBITENNIS: You talk about players playing every week. Do you see more of your peers suffer from burnout as a result?

ZANDSCHULP: Maybe but I also think it’s like where you’re from. If you’re from South America or Australia, I think it’s it’s a little bit tougher to go back home during the Europe swing, for example. So yeah. What do you do? You’re gonna play the tournament, instead of being somewhere else for a week. 

I don’t know how, how long you can keep it up. Of course, some players are doing a little bit longer playing every week.

Also, some guys are just starting. Maybe you see it in the long run. Maybe you see people who play more like who played every year, week in and week out. Maybe they don’t have a long career as somebody who’s playing 25 weeks a year for example. That’s something that’s something we will see in the future. I think that’s I think at the moment it’s tough to say.

UBITENNIS: Finally, what would make a good second half of the season for you?

ZANDSCHULP: Last year I was injured after Wimbledon. I didn’t play a lot. I only played the US Open but I was struggling there and twisted my ligaments. For me, the second half of the season feels like there’s a lot for me to win. 

I can play freely. I always liked the US swing. The swing afterwards, I think is really nice as well. 

The first season of the first half of the season wasn’t great. A lot of things can go better. But I’m looking forward to the second half of the season and the remaining matches here at Wimbledon. 

Two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray has pulled out of his first round match on Tuesday after being unable to return to full fitness following surgery. 

The former world No.1 had been in a race against time to be fit for the tournament where he will be making his final appearance as a player. Murray recently underwent a procedure on his back to treat an issue that was affecting his right leg. Last month at Queen’s he retired from his second round match against Jordan Thompson due to the issue. 

“Unfortunately, despite working incredibly hard on his recovery since his operation just over a week ago, Andy has taken the very difficult decision not to play the singles this year. As you can imagine, he is extremely disappointed but has confirmed that he will be playing in the doubles with Jamie and looks forward to competing at Wimbledon for the last time,” Murray’s management said in a statement.

Murray’s withdrawal brings an end to his singles career at Wimbledon. Since making his debut in 2005, he has won 61 out of 74 main draw matches played. In 2013 he became the first British man in 77 years to win the title before winning the trophy for a second time three years later. Overall, he has won 200 Grand Slam matches and was the eighth man in the Open Era to reach this milestone.

The 37-year-old will now focus on the doubles tournament which he will be playing alongside his brother Jamie. It is only the third time in his career that Murray has played in the men’s doubles event at Wimbledon after 2005 and 2019. 

Replacing Murray in the draw will be lucky loser David Goffin who plays Tomas Machac.