Four Top 10 women’s seeds lost in the first round of Wimbledon 2021, which equals the Open Era record set at the grass-court Grand Slam three years ago. Wednesday’s upsets of Bianca Andreescu and Belinda Bencic are added to Serena Williams’ injury exit on Tuesday and Petra Kvitova’s defeat to Sloane Stephens on Monday.
The fifth-seeded Andreescu was dominated by Alize Cornet 6-2 6-1. Andreescu has been a fixture in the Top 10 ever since she won the 2019 US Open, so it’s hard to fathom that this was only her second main-draw appearance at Wimbledon. Cornet, on the other hand, is playing her 14th Wimbledon, but she’s moved past the opening round for the first time since 2016.
Andreescu, who committed 34 unforced errors to her opponent’s seven, is very dissatisfied with the courts in London:
I didn’t slip just once. I slipped like six times. The courts are super slippery. I have only played here once before, but they weren’t like this at all. I spoke to a couple other players, and they said it’s not that normal. But this is something we can’t really control.
The ninth-seeded Bencic lost to world No.102 Kaja Juvan of Slovenia 6-3 6-3 in the first round. Both players recorded 22 winners, but Bencic committed 28 unforced errors, 15 more than her opponent. Also, they both earned seven opportunities to break, but Bencic converted just two, five less than Juvan.
Besides Andreescu, Bencic, Williams, and Kvitova, Sofia Kenin is another early Top 10 casualty. The fourth seed’s loss happened in the second round to compatriot Madison Brengle 6-2 6-4.
