Russian qualifier Ekaterina Alexandrova has sprung the biggest upset of her career to oust former world No.1 Ana Ivanovic in the opening round of Wimbledon on Monday.
The world No.223 defeated the No.23 seed 6-2, 7-5 to claim her fourth straight win on the grass having won through qualifying at Roehampton last week.
Alexandrova was the last woman to win her way through the qualifying draw with a mammoth three-hour-plus 2-6, 7-5, 13-11 comeback against Brit Harriet Dart on Friday under the shadows of fading early-evening sunlight at the Bank of England Sport Centre.
Three days later, she made the most of her late charge into the main draw, racing to a set and a 4-2 second-set lead against Ivanovic.
Sensing the enormity of the result she was closing in on, the Russian surrendered three straight games, with the Serb taking a 5-4 lead on the back of a big serve out wide to draw the error.
Stemming the flow of games against her, Alexandrova brought up game point with her sixth ace and held for 5-5 when Ivanovic missed well wide off the forehand wing.
She brought up two break points with an angled backhand volley drawing the easy put away and passed the Serb with a forehand crosscourt and the chance to serve for the match.
After fending off two break points, Alexandrova closed the match out with her sixth ace and a fist-pumping “c’mon”.
It capped a frustrating grass-court season for Ivanovic who had been struggling with a wrist injury leading in.
It was very tough... Since two weeks I struggle with my right wrist
“It was very tough. I mean, since two weeks I struggle with my right wrist,” Ivanovic said. “It was very hard to accelerate on my forehand. I tried to do everything possible to be fit and recover and tape it and so on.
“It was a little bit sore. I feel like it caused me a lot of miss‑hits.”
Injury niggle aside, Ivanovic was quick to compliment the 21-year-old’s performance.
“My forehand was hard to control her fast shots,” she said. “I thought she played really well and served very good. Especially in the first set, she was not missing many first serves.”
She will meet German Anna-Lena Friedsam next, a 6-4, 6-0 winner over Kazakhstan’s Zarina Diyas.
