Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 15, 2024 Ukraine's Dayana Yastremska celebrates winning her first round match against Czech Republic's Marketa Vondrousova REUTERS/Tracey Nearmy
MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova crashed to a stunning defeat in the opening round of the Australian Open on Monday as Ukrainian qualifier Dayana Yastremska outclassed her 6-1 6-2.
Seventh seed Vondrousova, who arrived in Melbourne after a hip issue forced her to withdraw from the warm-up tournament in Adelaide, quickly found herself 5-0 down in the opening set as Yastremska sensed an opportunity for a big upset.
The 24-year-old Czech, who became the first unseeded woman to claim the All England title last year, got on the scoreboard late in the first set but the powerful Yastremska had built up far too much momentum and wrapped it up in style.
Yastremska, the world number 93 who reached the third round at Melbourne Park in 2019, secured the early break in the second set as her opponent continued to spray the errors and the 23-year-old held firm to seal the victory.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Melbourne; Editing by Michael Perry)
