Sometimes you can just want things too badly. Late last night the former champion Maria Sharapova, struggling to reassert herself a year after returning from a doping ban, suffered her first ever defeat in the opening round at Wimbledon, ousted 6-7, 7-6, 6-4 by the Russian qualifier Vitalia Diatchenko, the world No 138. And Petra Kvitova, the pre‑tournament favourite after five titles in 2018 and near-perfect preparation, endured a shock first-round defeat as she was stunned 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 by the world No 50, Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus.
Sharapova, the 2004 champion, was one game from victory when she led by a set and 5-2 against the 27-year-old Diatchenko, who had lost in the first round in each of her previous two visits. But as the sun went down, the 31-year-old allowed Diatchenko back into the match. Again Sharapova had the edge in the decider, leading 4-3 with a break but Diatchenko broke for 5-4 and an eighth double-fault completed Sharapova’s misery.
“I definitely had several chances in the match,” she reflected. “Although not playing my best tennis, I opened up a few doors and was a couple points away from winning this match. Kept, you know, doing that in the third, as well. But just, you know, sometimes you put yourself in a better or winning position, and you don’t finish through. That was the case today.
Tennis is a process. I’ve certainly made a lot of progress despite this result today. I’ve made a lot of progress in the last few months. I find myself in a much better position than at this time last year.
“I don’t shy away from mistakes and errors, looking back at film, learning from what went wrong. It’s not always pleasant moments, but sometimes those are the ones you need to get better.”
As for Kvitova, 19 months after she was attacked in her home by an intruder, leaving her requiring four hours of career-saving surgery to her dominant left hand, she desperately wanted to claim a third title here, to add to her 2011 and 2014 victories. With so much pressure on her shoulders and likewise against an inspired opponent she came undone.
“Probably I wanted it too much again,” Kvitova said. “I just made a joke that probably I am going to skip the grand slams for the next years. I will see how everything is going. When I was younger, I played better in the grand slams than the other tournaments. Now is the time when I’m playing better on the other tournaments than the grand slams. So I make a promise that I am going to be very patient and I am going to try to break it again for the other side.”
The attack, which happened in December 2016, almost ended her career and could have been even worse. Dealing with that, she said, enables her to put losses, even those as disappointing as this one, in perspective.
“I already won the biggest match of my life and career,” she said. “It was, like, more than winning one grand slam. Of course I’m sad. I wanted to win very badly, maybe too much. As I said somewhere, I have already had a great season so far. Everything I am going to win now is just the bonus.
Sasnovich did not exactly seem overwhelmed by her effort. “It was a good match but I can play better,” she said, straight-faced. Asked if she is playing the best tennis of her life, she said: “I don’t think so. I can play better. I see myself better. I have to improve all elements of my game.”
The Spaniard Garbiñe Muguruza opened the defence of her title with a scratchy 6-2, 7-5 victory over the British wildcard Naomi Broady, the world No 138. Broady battled well, especially in the second set but Muguruza held on to advance to the second round, as she looks to become only the sixth woman in the open era to defend her title successfully.
The top seed, Simona Halep, impressed in a 6-2, 6-4 victory against Karumi Nara of Japan, while Angelique Kerber, the 2016 runner-up, saw off the 2010 runner-up, Vera Zvonareva, 7-5, 6-3.
