The unheralded Alison Van Uytvanck seemed to bring no great danger on paper, but caused one of the bigger upsets at the 2018 Wimbledon Championships by stunningly knocking out world number three and the defending champion Garbiñe Muguruza in the second round here at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, recovering from a set down to triumph with a 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 scoreline after an hour and 52-minutes of play.
Van Uytvanck came into Wimbledon with a disappointing 1-4 win-loss record in this tournament but strung together a huge surprise after defeating the in-form Muguruza, who was the sixth top-10 seed to exit the tournament within the opening two rounds. This is Van Uytvanck’s first-ever top-10 win of her career, and she will now face Anett Kontaveit for a chance to make her debut second-week appearance here.
Muguruza edges past Van Uytvanck in the tight opening set
Van Uytvanck made a nervous start to her match against the defending champion as she was forced to use her powerful serve to survive a tricky opening game which saw the Belgian fend off a break point. Nonetheless, Muguruza looked in top form as she was bombarding her way through her service games and utilizing the fast pace of the grass courts well, setting up a seemingly routine victory.
Unexpectedly, consecutive forehand winners from Van Uytvanck saw the first break going to the underdog with the Spaniard unable to draw the first blood. Nonetheless, Muguruza was finally able to regain her composure and find her groove once more, turning the tides for a 5-4 lead alongside the chance to serve out the first set.
Showing some tough resilience, Van Uytvanck gained the momentum and fired winners after winners to break straight back and level the scores. However, a slight moment of misfocus saw Muguruza taking full advantage, closing out the opening set 7-5 after a huge hustle which took her 47 minutes of play.
Van Uytvanck fights back in style
Three unforced errors started the second set in poor fashion for Van Uytvanck, who seemed to have completely lost the plot as Muguruza gained the confidence needed with the triumph in the opening set. Little did anyone expect, what followed next was a one-sided showing by the Belgian.
Muguruza was being increasingly erratic and Van Uytvanck grew more aggressive — dictating the play and controlling the proceedings. After holding serve at deuce despite being 40-0 up at 2-2, Van Uytvanck was riding on her confidence which ultimately pushed her to take the terrific second set 6-2 within a blink of an eye, with Muguruza putting in a string of poor service games to get broken thrice in the set.
Van Uytvanck claims the biggest win of her career
The final set seemed to be serve-dominated after both Muguruza and Van Uytvanck held their opening service games to love with the returners not earning any opportunities to make a breakthrough. In what was the longest game of the match, the Spaniard struggled on her serve with her errors not doing a favour for her. Muguruza was eventually broken in the marathon game having wasted three game points.
From there, Muguruza’s mind wandered off and gradually faltered away from the match, losing the momentum and ultimately failing to put up her A game. Rattling off five consecutive games, Van Uytvanck stunned the crowd out of Court No.3 and surprisingly booked her spot in the third round with this terrific victory.
