French Open champion Garbine Muguruza bowed out of Wimbledon in the second round to world number 124 Jana Cepelova, losing 6-3 6-2. The second seed looked out of sorts as Cepelova raced into a 4-0 lead before seeing out the first set. Cepelova didn’t let up in the second set either as she breezed past last year’s finalist. 

Muguruza post French Open blues

Heading into the match after a close fought encounter with Camila Giorgi of Italy, Muguruza was hotly tipped to go far at SW19 this year, meanwhile, Cepelova only reached the tournament by means of qualifying.

After beating Mariana Duque-Marino in the first round, many expected Cepelova’s journey to end against in-form Muguruza. However, the start of the match ensured that Muguruza was in for anything but a routine win as the Spaniard was at sixes and sevens trying to find the court but could not prevent Cepelova wining the first set. The errors continued into the second set with Muguruza perhaps fittingly hitting the ball into the net to hand the match to Cepelova.

Giant Killer Cepelova

Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images
Cepelova shocked Simona Halep at last years WImbledon Picture | Julian Finney/Getty Images

No stranger to top 5 wins, Cepelova now has a remarkable 3-2 record against top 5 opponents after also beating Serena Williams (then ranked 1st) and Simona Halep last year at Wimbledon (then ranked 3rd). For Muguruza, failing to build on her Roland Garros win will be a big disappointment, especially after reaching the Wimbledon final last year. The world number two will experience a big drop in ranking points now as she looks ahead to the hard court season which will represent a huge opportunity for the Spaniard to earn some more ranking points. Having been knocked out early in each of her three North American tournaments last year, she will have her eye on making it deep into the draws.

Cepelova moves into the third round where she will face 28th seed Lucie Safarova who beat Samantha Crawford 6-3 6-4.

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