Former champions Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova were among the biggest names to be knocked out dramatically on the second day of Wimbledon.

Sharapova, the 2004 champion, was outclassed by fellow Russian Vitalia Diatchenko in a three-set battle. Kvitova also lost in three sets to world number 50 Aliaksandra Sasnovich.

In the men’s singles matches, too, there were a few big upsets in the first round with top-10 seeds Dominic Thiem and Belgium’s David Goffin bowing out.

The Big Story

Sharapova goes down in a thriller

Sharapova was cruising to victory at one stage against world No 132 Diatchenko on Court Two with a set and 5-2 lead before the latter shrugged off a back injury to win 6-7 (3/7), 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 after more than three hours of tense action.

Sharapova, playing Wimbledon for the first time in three years after missing 2016 through a drugs ban and 2017 due to injury, gave up the match on her 11th double fault.

It was her earliest exit at a Slam since a first round defeat at the 2010 Australian Open.

“It’s always tough to assess your motivation levels after a first round loss but I won’t shy away from learning from my errors,” said 31-year-old Sharapova.

Sasnovich bagels Kvitova in three-set win

Eighth seed Kvitova was the bookmakers’ favourite for a third Wimbledon crown after winning five titles in 2018, including the grass-court tournament at Birmingham last weekend, while amassing an WTA Tour-leading 38 match victories.

But she slumped to a disappointing 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 loss to Sasnovich.

“When I was younger, I played better on the Grand Slams than the other tournaments. Now is the time when I’m playing better on the other tournaments than the Grand Slams,” said the 28-year-old Czech.

Kvitova is the fourth top 10 women’s seed to lose in the first round.

Number four Sloane Stephens and fifth-seeded Elina Svitolina were eliminated on Monday.

France’s Caroline Garcia, seeded six, was also beaten Tuesday, going down 7-6 (7/2), 6-3 to Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic.

Nadal cruises to second round

World number one Rafael Nadal breezed into the second round with a 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 win over Israel’s Dudi Sela as the Spaniard returned to action for the first time since claiming his 11th French Open title.

Nadal, the Wimbledon champion in 2008 and 2010, also managed to avoid falling victim to a player ranked outside the world top 100 for what would have been the fifth time in his last six visits to the All England Club.

“I’m just happy to be through of course and yes, this match gives me positive feelings,” said Nadal after seeing off world number 127 Sela.

Djokovic dispataches Sandgren

Novak Djokovic reached the second round with a 6-3, 6-1, 6-2 win over Tennys Sandgren of the United States.

With his 59th Wimbledon win, he equaled John McEnroe in fifth place on the list for the most men’s wins at Wimbledon in the Open Era.

Djokovic, seeded 12, was back at the tournament where last year he was forced to retire from his quarter-final against Tomas Berdych with an elbow injury.

“I thought it was overall quite a solid match. I think he made a lot of errors,” said Djokovic.

Shot of the day

From the sidelines

Lopez breaks Federer slam record

Spain’s Feliciano Lopez broke Roger Federer’s record for consecutive Grand Slam appearances when he started his 66th major in a row at Wimbledon. His run stretches all the way back to the 2001 French Open.

Leg to sign on

Defending champion Garbine Muguruza was asked to – and duly did without batting an eyelid – sign a false leg as she left Centre Court after beating Naomi Broady.

Quiet, please!

Argentine fifth seed Juan Martin del Potro urged people in the Court Three crowd to shut up, putting his finger to his lips to shush some noisy spectators. Del Potro went on to beat Peter Gojowczyk.

Blind panic

Wimbledon chiefs pulled down the blinds in the main press room to stop people gawping through at the England v Colombia football match on journalists’ screens. The All England Club stiffly refuses to show anything but tennis on its newly-installed public giant screen on the “Henman Hill” picnic terrace.

A roof over your head

Centre Court’s retractable roof has been in action since 2009 and once the new roof on Court One becomes operational next year, that’s it – no more roofs are going up, Wimbledon chiefs said.

Quotable quotes

“It’s nothing new. I live in a house when I am at home. I am used to be here in a house.”

– Rafael Nadal feels at home staying in a house.

“Originally when I heard the sound, I thought it hit the scoreboard. Then I realised it was her arm. She started crying. It was tough. She took it like a champ, though. I would have been crying, for sure.”

– Nick Kyrgios on hitting a ball girl with one of his fierce serves.

“Wind player? I’m coming from Kiel. It’s always windy there.”

– Angelique Kerber on whether she considers herself a good “wind player”.

“When I was about to break the record, I thought, wow, I’m going to beat Federer at something!”

– Feliciano Lopez after he broke Roger Federer’s a record of featuring in most consecutive Grand Slams (66). Lopez has lost all 13 matches he has played against Federer.

“That’s been a problem at every tournament, that players are too lazy to pick up their water bottles, myself included. Towels and balls. We’re professional tennis players, we should obviously look after our rubbish.”

– Kyle Edmund on the dirty side of the game.

“None. Only at the fields where the cows were.”

– Stefanos Tsitsipas on how many grass courts there were growing up in Greece.

(With inputs from AFP)