Wimbledon 2024: Vondrousova stutters as Rybakina and Świątek march on

By James Toney at Wimbledon

The All England Club are big fans of the stirring words of Kipling and for Marketa Vondrousova disaster did follow triumph.

Last year, she became the first unseeded player to win the women's singles title but her defence didn't last long under leaden south-west London skies.

Jessica Bouzas Maneiro had never won a Grand Slam match before this, but the world number 83 outclassed her rival to win 6-4 6-2 - the first time in three decades the women's champion has exited at this stage.

Vondrousova arrived here struggling with a hip injury - the latest in a list of crocked players at this year's Championships - but that didn't stop her soon feeling as gloomy as the weather.

"I wasn't at my best and that feels really tough," she admitted. "I was a bit scared walking out there but that wasn't the reason that I lost, she played really well but it's a hard feeling to come back here and lose.

"I think people expected me to win but she didn't give me any points for free."

There has been a different name on the Venus Rosewater Dish since Serena Williams won the last of her seven titles in 2016.

Elena Rybakina won two years ago and eased past Romanian qualifier Elena Rouse 6-3 6-1, the picture of robotic efficiency and minimal fuss.

Rybakina loves this surface and it suits her game - the only problem is she is quite hard to love.

When she won two years ago, it was difficult to tell between her and the glum-faced beaten finalist.

"I need to teach her how to celebrate," said Ons Jabeur, one of the WTA Tour's great characters.

Rybakina might be introverted but - in the absence of the defending champion and number three seed Aryna Sabalenka, who withdrew due to injury - she may well be the incumbent as the player most likely to win here.

"I think it's just my personality, I keep a lot of emotions inside," she said.

"It's been working for the past few years, so why change? I want to win again but maybe sometimes expectations are too big, if you're doing well, everyone wants to beat you."

Iga Świątek is making her fifth appearance at Wimbledon but she's only won nine matches, her best result reaching the last eight 12 months ago.

Peerless on clay - with four French Open wins in the last five years - it's fair to say grass is not a surface she relishes but she needs to win Wimbledon to truly become the generational star some predict. This was her 44th win of the year and her 20th in succession.

"That wasn't an easy draw, playing a Grand Slam champion in the first round," she said, after a regulation 6-3 6-4 win over American Sofia Kenin, a former Australia Open winner.

"On this surface it's not about the result, it's about the progress. I just don't look at statistics but I feel I'm playing better on grass every year and that is all that matters."

In these early days of Wimbledon you crave some controversy but it was all very cordial between Ajla Tomljanovic and Jelena Ostapenko.

Three years ago they got into a nasty spat, with Tomljanovic accusing her rival of faking an injury and being a ‘liar’, the bad blood between them spectacularly boiling over.

But like so many sequels this one disappointed - the recent Australian Open finalist Ostapenko winning 6-1 6-2, which was followed only by a perfunctory handshake.