American Sofia Kenin became the highest women’s seed to fall so far at Wimbledon as she suffered a 6-2 6-2 second-round defeat at the hands of compatriot Madison Brengle.
The 2020 Australian Open champion Kenin, seeded four, never got going on a cool Court Two and lasted only 45 minutes against the experienced 31-year-old who has matched her best run here.
“I really did not feel my game,” Kenin who had pulled out of the Eastbourne tournament last week with a minor injury, said.
“I just feel like leading up to Wimbledon I didn’t have enough clearly preparation on the grass.”
Several other Grand Slam champions avoided early exits though on the slick lawns.
Former Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza maintained her dominant form as she reached the third round with 6-1 6-4 win over Dutchwoman Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove.
Muguruza, winner in 2017, has dropped six games so far.
Last year’s French Open champion Iga Swiatek, seeded seven, got the better of 36-year-old Russian Vera Zvonareva as she made an impressive main draw debut.
The 20-year-old former Wimbledon junior champion was handed a testing first round against the 2010 runner-up but made light work of it, winning 6-1 6-3.
“Every match gives me opportunity to have more and more confidence. So I’m pretty happy with my performance today,” Swiatek said. “Playing such an experienced player is never easy because she has many years of playing on grass.”
Latvian big-hitter Jelena Ostapenko, who won the French Open in 2017 and reached the Wimbledon semi-final a year later, underlined her return to form with an easy 6-1 6-2 win over Canadian teenager Leylah Fernandez in a delayed first round.
Former world number one Victoria Azarenka, who has never reached a Wimbledon final but owns two Australian Open crowns, also made her first appearance here this year after Tuesday’s rain interruptions, making up for lost time with a 6-1 6-3 defeat of Ukraine’s Kateryna Kozlova.
A day after sister Serena endured a heart-breaking Wimbledon exit after suffering an injury in the first round, Venus Williams also bowed out of the singles .
Venus, aged 41 and playing in her 90th Grand Slam tournament, pushed Tunisian 21st seed Ons Jabeur hard in the opening set but eventually succumbed to a 7-5 6-0 defeat. It is the first time at least one of the American sisters has failed to reach the third round at Wimbledon since Serena made her debut at the tournament in 1998.
Second seed Aryna Sabalenka dropped the opening set in her second-round match before powering to a 4-6 6-3 6-3 victory over Briton Katie Boulter, who is ranked 219th in the world.
