Muguruza stunned in 2nd round at Wimbledon by qualifier

Garbine Muguruza, the second seed and French Open champion, was knocked out of Wimbledon in the second round yesterday, losing 6-3, 6-2 to Slovak qualifier Jana Cepelova.

Cepelova’s confidence never faltered, from the time she stepped onto Court One to the moment she sealed the match 6-3 6-2 against the French Open champion from Spain on her first match point.

Maybe Muguruza has been put under too much pressure because of Serena, who has won the second-most major titles in the Open era.

Later Thursday, world number two Andy Murray takes centre stage when the 2013 champion faces Taiwan s Lu Yen-Hsun.

Stephens, seeded No. 18, defeated China’s Peng Shuai, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2, in a first-round match. With the exception of 2014, she has previously got no further than the second round in four attempts.

Showing glimpses of the form that took her to an All England Club semifinal in 2014 and to world number two a year ago, the fifth-seeded Romanian had too much power and court craft for her 111th-ranked opponent.

Swiss seventh seed Belinda Bencic joined Muguruza in the casualty list when she retired from her second round match against American qualifier Julia Boserup.

However, Watson was unable to get beyond her opening encounter with Annika Beck, who came out on top when their rain-delayed match resumed on Thursday.

“It’s tough, my energy was missing and I felt empty, a bit sick”, Muguruza told reporters.

Five-time champion Venus Williams led a group of Americans picking up victories at Wimbledon on Thursday as the tournament scrambled to get back on schedule after two days of bad weather. “So she played a really good game against me”.

The French Open champion and last year’s beaten finalist at Wimbledon made 22 unforced errors as she was soundly beaten by the Slovakian in less than an hour.

“I always try to go on the court to see what happens and how I feel”. Venus, seeded No. 8, is due up first against No. 29 Daria Kasatkina, while Djokovic is paired against No. 28 Sam Querrey.

From 3-2 up in the second set, Murray won seven games on the trot as Lu struggled to find a way to keep pace with Murray’s potent groundstrokes. Isner, who had 33 aces, has yet to advance past the third round at the All England Club.

France’s Gilles Simon, who lost to Grigor Dimitrov on Court One, was also letting off steam, threatening to sue the organisers for making him to play in the rain.

Bencic was 6-4, 1-0 down on Court Three to the world number 225 when she quit with a wrist injury.

All credit goes to Cepelova, even if Muguruza did not play her usual quality tennis.

Canadian sixth seed Milos Raonic, regarded as a dark horse for the title, brushed past Andreas Seppi 7-6 (7/5), 6-4, 6-2.

On Centre Court, the action starts at 1pm with Juan Martin Del Potro v Stan Wawrinka, followed by Serena Williams v Christina McHale, then Roger Federer v Daniel Evans of Great Britain. No. 14 Samantha Stosur was knocked out 6-4, 6-2 by 2013 runner-up Sabine Lisicki.