World number two Naomi Osaka's hopes of a third Grand Slam title have been shredded on Centre Court, dumped out of Wimbledon in the first round in a 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 loss to Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva.
The Japanese, who had nervelessly battered her way to success at the US and Australian Opens, failed to find her range on the slick lawns of the All England Club on Tuesday (NZT), tumbling out amid a flurry of unforced errors.
Putintseva was far from an unknown quantity for Osaka, after recently knocking her out in Birmingham, and again proved a resolute obstacle for the Japanese, fighting back after an early break to take the first set on a tiebreak.
She broke Osaka's serve twice in a dominant second set, wrapping up victory in 1h 36m, when her opponent sliced a backhand into the net.
In a second shock of day one, American teenage sensation Cori 'Coco' Gaufff scored a straight sets win over one of her tennis idols, Venus Williams.
Aged 39, Williams is considered Wimbledon royalty, as she has been part of the All England Club family for more than two decades, winning the singles title five times - including two before Gauff, 15, was even born.
But Gauff, the youngest player to qualify for the main draw in the professional era, was in no mood to play lady-in-waiting, as she made a mockery of the 24-year age difference and 269 ranking spots that separate her from Williams on Monday.
Playing a fearless brand of tennis that belied her young age, she bullied Williams into submission.
A break in the fifth game of the opening set, which included a delectable lob over the statuesque Williams, was enough to win her the first set.
The nerveless display continued in the second set and she sealed victory on her fourth match point, when Williams netted a forehand.
Third seed Karolina Pliskova has bludgeoned her way into the second round by using her huge serve and searing forehand to fend off tenacious Chinese challenger Zhu Lin 6-2 7-6 (7-4).
But Pliskova, who won the Eastbourne grasscourt tournament on Saturday, blowing away Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber in the final, had a tougher time on the All England Club's distant court two, against an opponent ranked 98 places behind her.
She zipped through the first set, whipping a crosscourt return into the corner to wrap it up in 27 minutes.
But as Zhu found her feet and her range on the new grass, the 27-year-old Czech began to look a little out of sorts and produced a few loose shots among 18 unforced errors.
"My feeling was my timing was a little bit off," Pliskova said, adding the court felt slower than she expected.
"Sometimes I thought I hit a great shot, but she still was there - she was still able to make it. I don't know if she's that good or the court is that slow."
Zhu, 25, who failed to qualify for Wimbledon the last three years, scurried up and down the baseline, chasing everything down and countering the serve with some fine returning.
Pliskova had to use that booming forehand to get her out of trouble in the 12th game of the second set, saving three set points in a marathon game of seven deuces.
That game ended Zhu's resistance and Pliskova, a former number one who could rise to the top spot again at the championships, took the tiebreak and the match after 1h 21m.
The last woman to win at Eastbourne and Wimbledon in the same year was Pliskova's late compatriot, Jana Novotna, in 1998.
In other matches, Simona Halep shook off an injury early in her opener and won five games in a row in the second set to overcome Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-4 7-5 in the first match on court one since the installation of a new roof.
"It [the injury] could be an issue, but I hope not," Halep said. "I need treatment now.
"I slid a little bit and felt a little bit of pain behind the knee and the foot."
Meanwhile, Magdalena Rybarikova, a semi-finalist in 2017, beat 10th seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus 6-2 6-4.
Madison Keys, seeded 17th, made short work of Thailand's Luksika Kumkhum winning 6-3 6-2 to reach the second round, while Elina Svitolina handed Australia's Daria Gavrilova a bagel, en route to a 7-5 6-0 victory.
Reuters
