In the biggest upset of the tournament so far, Slovak qualifier Jana Cepelova stunned reigning French Open champion and defending finalist Garbiñe Muguruza 6-3, 6-2, taking only 58 minutes to finish her demolition job of Wimbledon's second seed. After shocking former semifinalist Simona Halep the previous year on No. 1 Court, Cepelova kept her giant-killing ways going to move into the third round at the All England Club.
Cepelova holds off Mugurza to take opening set
Cepelova began the match on the front foot, racing out to an early lead with a hold and a break of serve before consolidating on the break for 3-0. Muguruza looked to restore some order, taking care of her own serve, with the Slovak qualifier doing the same the following game. Cepelova, who upset world number one Serena Williams in Charleston in 2014, kept the momentum going, forcing some costly errors out of her Spanish opponent to go up 5-1.
Serving for the set, Cepelova appeared to tighten up, getting broken easily before Muguruza took a hold to love to increase pressure on her far less-experienced opponent. The second time around, Cepelova made no mistake, taking the first set in style 6-3 with a big forehand winner to seal it.
Cepelova finishes off the upset in dominant fashion
Cepelova, the world number 124, kept her momentum going, gaining the immediate break off Mugurza for the early advantage. The Slovak kept the dominant display going, consolidating the break before taking another off some big hitting for an impressive 3-0 lead. The qualifier made the seemingly impossible upset closer to a reality, holding her nerve and her serve to go up a seemingly unassailable 4-0 lead.
The world number two and defending finalist wasn't going down without a fight, taking care of her serve to get on the board before Cepelova held on to put herself 5-1 up. Serving to stay in the match, the reigning French Open champion kept her tournament alive, taking a nervy game to force the qualifier to serve it out. Cepelova did just that, keeping her nerves intact to finish off the stunning upset, ousting the second seed 6-3, 6-2 in only 58 minutes in a rather disappointing performance from the Spaniard.
Cepelova on the shock result
"I like to play on the big courts," Cepelova told press after the match. "Today and also last year my performance on big court was pretty good. I think I played today well."
"It was tough because yesterday we didn't play. I was waiting two days. But I had such a good performance because I have four matches behind me on grass. I'm used to it on this court," said the Slovak, who upset former French Open finalist Simona Halep on this same court last year.
"I had good confidence. I tried to play my best game."
"From the beginning, I felt really good on the court, because I had such good memories from the last year. I beat Halep there. And I step on the court really with the confidence. I just believed in myself every point, every game. I tried to win," said the qualifier ranked 124 in the world.
Cepelova concluded with, "I like to play on grass. My style is, I think that I change a lot, the shots. And sometimes I play flat; sometimes I play slices. I think I'm good with the changes."
Muguruza on the second round exit
"I think my energy was missing a little bit today," said a seemingly dejected but subdued Muguruza. "From yesterday I felt already a little bit, you know, like, tired, I think is the best word. And today during the match, and after the match, I'm like, It's a tough day today. I feel empty a little bit, and I'm starting to feel sick. But I think it was a little bit of combination," added the Spaniard.
"I think she played great, with no fear. She was trying a lot of stuff that was working. My energy was not really there. I was trying, but didn't work at all," concluded the world number two whose ranking will drop significantly due to failing to defend her final points from last year.