By Chris Oddo | Monday July 2, 2018
Croatia's Donna Vekic produced the first big upset of Wimbledon by knocking off fourth-seeded Sloane Stephens on Day 1.
Photo Source: Clive Mason/Getty
Sloane Stephens was taken down as Donna Vekic of Croatia produced the first big upset of the Championships on a sunny Day 1 at SW19. The Croatian notched her first career Top 5 win in seven tries by rallying past the 2017 U.S. Open champion in 71 minutes, 6-1, 6-3.
Wimbledon 2018: Federer Wears Uniqlo | Day 1 Schedule | Shapovalov's Process | Murray Out
Vekic won 20 of 23 first-serve points and after Stephens held for 1-1 in the opener, the 22-year-old took the final five games of the set, closing it when Stephens missed a forehand well long.
Stephens had a 2-0 lead in set two but she was broken back in the third game as another of her 15 forehand unforced errors sailed long.
Stephens 26 unforced errors in total were too many compared with her 11 winners on the day.
A trade of breaks took the players to 3-3 in set two, but Vekic rallied again and converted her fourth match point to close the battle before it could really start.
Vekic will move on to face either Viktoria Kuzmova or Rebecca Peterson in round two. She improves to 3-4 lifetime at Wimbledon and has never been beyond the second round.