Wimbledon: Ivanovic crashes out in first round

Serbian star Ana Ivanovic has been stunned in the first round of Wimbledon, losing to unheralded Russian qualifier Ekaterina Alexandrova.

Alexandrova sealed the straight-sets win in just 70 minutes, sending Ivanovic home at the first hurdle for just the second time in 12 visits to the All England Club.

Ivanovic, seeded 23rd, managed just nine winners to Alexandrova’s 19 in the contest on Court 12.

It continues a mediocre run of form for Ivanovic, whose win-loss record in 2016 drops to 15-13.

Alexandrova next faces German Anna-Lena Friedsam.

Ivanovic complained of a wrist injury following the defeat.

“It was very tough. I mean, since two weeks I struggle with my right wrist. 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. But, yeah, it was a little bit sore,” she said.

“I feel like it caused me a lot of mishits. My forehand was hard to control her fast shots. I thought she played really well and served very good. Especially in the first set, she was not missing many first serves.

“During Mallorca tournament, it really got inflamed. Then I had couple of days off. It start to calm down a little bit. Every time I would start hitting, it would flare up. I felt like I could probably manage it.

“It’s tough on grass because ball really skids through. She was hitting very, very heavy. So, yeah, it was disappointing.

“I think I’m going to take some time off. My next tournament would be Olympics. So hopefully that will give it enough time to settle down. Hope to do some MRI and see what’s going on.”