Clay queen slips on grass

London, June 30 

Second seed Garbine Muguruza, gunning to add the Wimbledon crown to her French Open title, was sensationally beaten in the second round on Thursday by a Slovakian qualifier, removing one of the biggest obstacles to Serena Williams defending her title.

Jana Cepelova pulled off the shock of the tournament so far, downing the Spaniard 6-3 6-2 in a nerveless display.

Muguruza, who lost to Williams in last year’s final, looked lacklustre and struggled with the accuracy of her powershots that had thrilled the French crowds. “I think my energy was missing a little bit today,” she said.

Muguruza had laboured in the first round against Italy’s Camila Giorgi on Monday, eventually winning in three sets, but had not lost against a player ranked outside the top 100 since last August. 

However, Cepelova, ranked 124th and having come through three rounds of qualifying, had served notice that she could cause an upset, having a two-two record over top five players. 

The 23-year-old brought all the pedigree that helped her down then world No. 3 Simona Halep in the first round last year, racing through the match in 59 minutes. She broke Muguruza at the first opportunity, forcing a backhand error, and never looked back, sassing her opponent at the net, outdoing her on the baseline and sealing both sets on the first set points. 

“I think she played great, with no fear. She was trying a lot of stuff that was working. My energy was not really there.  I was trying, but didn’t work at all,” Muguruza, 22, said. — Reuters

Lows and Highs

MURRAY through 

Second seed Andy Murray eased past Taiwan’s Lu Yen-hsun 6-3 6-2 6-1.

NISHIKORI fights back

Fifth seed Kei Nishikori came back from a set down to battle past Julien Benneteau 4-6 6-4 6-4 6-2.

KERBER wins

Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber eased past Varvara Lepchenko 6-1 6-4.

BENCIC FORCED TO RETIRE

Seventh seed Belinda Bencic was forced to retire due to injury while trailing 6-4 1-0 against Julia Boserup.

VENUS pushed

Experience prevailed as eighth seed Venus Williams battled past youngster Maria Sakkari of Greece 7-5 4-6 6-3.

MAHUT STUNS FERRER 

Nicolas Mahut smashed 44 winners on the way to a 6-1 6-4 6-3 victory over David Ferrer.

HALEP DOWNS SCHIAVONE  

Simona Halep dropped just two games to race through her second round encounter 6-1 6-1 against Italy’s Francesca Schiavone

LISICKI TAKES OUT STOSUR

Germany’s Sabine Lisicki beat Samantha Stosur 6-4 6-2.