Over and out

London, july 4

Maria Sharapova suffered her first opening round Wimbledon defeat and earliest Grand Slam exit in eight years when she was shocked by fellow Russian Vitalia Diatchenko, the world No. 132. Sharapova, the 2004 champion, was joined yesterday at the exit by 2011 and 2014 winner Petra Kvitova who was stunned by Belarusian world number 50 Aliaksandra Sasnovich.

Sharapova was cruising to victory at one stage with a set and 5-2 lead before qualifier Diatchenko shrugged off a back injury to win 6-7 (3/7) 7-6 (7/3) 6-4 after more than three hours of tense action.

Sharapova, playing Wimbledon for the first time in three years after missing in 2016 through a drugs ban and 2017 due to an injury, gave up the match on her 11th double fault. It was her earliest exit at a Slam since a first round defeat at the 2010 Australian Open. “It's always tough to assess your motivation levels after a first round loss but I won't shy away from learning from my errors,” said 31-year-old Sharapova.

Federer, Venus advance 

Roger Federer extended his flawless winning streak at Wimbledon to 26 consecutive sets as the defending champion crushed Lukas Lacko, while Venus Williams battled back to beat Alexandra Dulgheru in Wednesday's second round action. Federer delivered a Centre Court masterclass lasting 89 minutes as the Swiss star hit 48 winners and 16 aces in his 6-4 6-4 6-1 victory. 

Meanwhile, making her 21st Wimbledon appearance, the 38-year-old Venus is the oldest woman in this year's tournament.  But she didn't look her age in making it 89 career match wins at Wimbledon by demolishing Dulgheru 4-6 6-0 6-1. 

Wozniacki joins seed exodus 

Caroline Wozniacki's honeymoon on grass was short-lived as she became the 11th women's seed to fall on the first three days at Wimbledon in a 6-4 1-6 7-5 second-round defeat by Ekaterina Makarova on Wednesday. The Danish second seed, who won the Eastbourne tournament last week, made no excuses for her defeat. "I did everything I could," said Wozniacki. "I fought as hard as I could. I can't even be mad at myself because I played up to the level that I can," added the Dane, who won her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January. — Agencies 

Important results

Women: Venus Williams beat Alexandra Dulgheru 4-6 6-0 6-1, Karolina Pliskova beat Victoria Azarenka 6-3 6-3; Mihaela Buzarnescu bt Katie Swan 6-0 6-3, Madison Keys bt Luksika Kumkhum 6-4 6-3, Mihaela Buzarnescu bt Katie Swan 6-0 6-3, Serena Williams bt Viktoriya Tomova 6-1 6-4, Ekaterina Makarova bt Caroline Wozniacki 6-4 1-6 7-5 

Men: Dennis Novak bt Lucas Pouille 6-4 6-2 6-7(8) 3-6 6-2; Milos Raonic bt John Millman 7-6(4) 7-6(4) 7-6(4)

Raja loses in first round 

India's Purav Raja and his French partner Fabrice Martin lost a hard fought five-set battle to crash out of the men's doubles competition at the Wimbledon tennis tournament here on Wednesday. Up against D Lajovic of Serbia and Bosnia's Mirza Baasic, the Indo-French combination lost 2-6 4-6 7-6 6-4 9-11 in a duel that lasted three hours and 37 minutes.