Jessica Bouzas Maneiro of Spain pulled off a seismic upset on Centre Court of Wimbledon on Tuesday, toppling defending champion Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-2 in their first-round showdown.
"I feel so happy right now," Bouzas Maneiro said in her post-match press conference. "I can't believe it yet, so I have to take my time."
Wimbledon 2024: Scores | Draws | Order of play
Playing in only the third Grand Slam main draw of her career, World No.83 Bouzas Maneiro earned her first Grand Slam main-draw victory by ousting Vondrousova in just 67 minutes. Bouzas Maneiro converted all five of her break points to complete the feat.
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No.6 seed Vondrousova became only the second defending champion to lose in the first round of Wimbledon in the Open Era. The other time it happened at Wimbledon was 30 years ago, when former Top 10 player Lori McNeil defeated three-time defending champion Stefanie Graf in the 1994 opening round.
The win of her life ✨
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 2, 2024
21-year-old Jessica Bouzas Maneiro beats defending champion Marketa Vondrousova 6-4, 6-2 on Centre Court#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/16PSpOvi0I
For 21-year-old Bouzas Maneiro, this is by far her biggest career win by ranking. Bouzas Maneiro had never defeated a Top 40 player before Tuesday. In fact, she had only played a Top 10 player once before, when she lost to Jelena Ostapenko on home soil in Madrid in April.
However, the Spaniard has served notice over the past 12 months that she is one to watch. Bouzas Maneiro won her first WTA 125 title at Antalya in early April of this year, and she made her Top 100 debut just a week later. She has halved her ranking since being No.167 a year ago.
And Bouzas Maneiro had already played Wimbledon once before, when she successfully qualified for the main draw last year, making her Grand Slam main-draw debut.
"I had good memories from last year, of course," Bouzas Maneiro said. "It was my first time on grass also, last year. This time, my second time in a Grand Slam with my ranking.
"To play against Vondrousova on grass here in this place was like [adding] another good memory. I think I'm going to love this tournament more than before. I loved it also days ago. It goes better."
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There were early signs that things might not go exactly to form under the closed roof of Centre Court, when Vondrousova fired three double faults in her opening service game. Bouzas Maneiro's backhand was solid in the opener, and a love hold at 5-4 put the Spaniard a set away from the upset.
Strong returning gave Bouzas Maneiro a break for 2-1 in the second set, and the unseeded player started to take control for good when she slammed a backhand winner down the line to consolidate for 3-1.
"This is one of the most important moments of my life"
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 2, 2024
Jessica Bouzas Maneiro describes the feeling of winning on Centre Court 💚#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/PmIy5MBkcp
Bouzas Maneiro dominated with crosscourt forehands to break again for 5-2, and she quickly powered to double match point when serving for the match. One final backhand winner wrapped up her first grass-court win in a tour-level main draw.
"I was thinking just about point by point," Bouzas Maneiro said. "Then it was [one] set up. Sometimes something goes for my mind, like, 'Maybe I can win, maybe I can do it.' With myself, I was just trying to play every point, keep calm. It was like that until the last point."
Bouzas Maneiro won 77 percent of her first-serve points in the clash. Vondrousova had six more winners than Bouzas Maneiro, but the Czech was undone by 28 unforced errors, doubling Bouzas Maneiro's 14.
Now, an all-Spanish clash is set in the second round, where Bouzas Maneiro will face her compatriot Cristina Bucsa. World No.64 Bucsa saved a match point and squeaked past Ana Bogdan of Romania 6-4, 4-6, 7-6[10-5] on Tuesday.