Eugenie Bouchard was knocked out in the first round at Wimbledon as one of the biggest stars of the grand slam 12 months ago became the first big-name casualty of this year’s tournament.
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Canadian Bouchard marched through to the 2014 final, where Petra Kvitova denied her the title, but has endured a terrible season on tour and the Wimbledon exit adds to her troubles.
She lost 7-6 (7/3) 6-4 to China’s Duan Ying-Ying on Court Three, sealing her own fate by cracking a forehand into the net.
Elsewhere in the women’s draw, third-seeded Romanian Simona Halep was also on the wrong end of a shock, losing in the first round 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 to Jana Cepelova of Slovakia.
Both finalists from the summer 2014 Slams (Bouchard and Halep) lose to players ranked outside the top 100 (Cepelova and Duan)
— Jon Wertheim (@jon_wertheim) June 30, 2015
Halep reached the semi-finals 12 months ago, just a month after finishing runner-up at the French Open.
The 22-year-old Cepelova, ranked 106 in the world, had won only one match on the tour all year before Tuesday.
She goes on to face another Romanian, Monica Niculescu, for a place in the last 32.