Wimbledon champion Vondrousova crashes out of Australian Open

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Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic falls to the ground during her singles' match at Australian Open in Melbourne, Australia, January 15, 2024. /CFP

Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova crashed out of the Australian Open on Monday after a straight sets defeat to qualifier Dayana Yastremska in the first round.

The world No. 7 was completely outplayed by an aggressive Yastremska of Ukraine, who ran out with a comfortable 6-1, 6-2 victory in 76 minutes.

The 24-year-old Czech, who became the first unseeded woman to claim the All England title last year, got on the scoreboard late in the first set but the powerful Yastremska had built up far too much momentum and wrapped it up in style.

Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine hits a return against Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic during their women's singles match at Australian Open in Melbourne, Australia, January 15, 2024. /CFP

Yastremska, the world No. 93 who reached the third round at Melbourne Park in 2019, secured the early break in the second set as her opponent continued to spray the errors and the 23-year-old held firm to seal the victory.

Vondrousova had withdrawn from the Adelaide International last week due to a right hip injury, but did not show any visible signs of distress. The Czech had started her season with a three-set loss to China's Zheng Qinwen at the mixed teams United Cup.

Novak Djokovic of Serbia in action during the Australian Open in Melbourne, Australia, January 14, 2024. /CFP

Australian Open director Craig Tiley said on Monday that late finishes are inevitable at the Grand Slam tournament despite the introduction of an extra day this year to help with fixture congestion.

The year's first Grand Slam is notorious for its late finishes. In 2008, a match between Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis famously concluded at 4:33 a.m.

The final match of the first day of the 15-day Australian Open on Sunday started at 11:41 p.m. after Novak Djokovic had taken four hours to win his first-round match against Dino Prizmic of Croatia.

A view of the match duration clock on court that shows match time of four hours during the match between Novak Djokovic of Serbia and Dino Prizmic of Croatia at Australian Open in Melbourne, Australia, January 14, 2024. /CFP

Mercifully, women's defending champion Aryna Sabalenka raced through her tournament opener in less than an hour, but Tiley said players had to expect to play into the early hours at Melbourne Park on occasion.

"We finished at 12:35 a.m. and we have taken the edge off having the possibility of late finishes," Tiley told Australia's Channel Nine on Monday.

"Nobody could predict that Novak would have gone over four hours to play a qualifier. No one would have predicted that putting a schedule on," Tiley said.

"It's going to happen and it will happen again, it could happen tonight or tomorrow night," Tiley added.

(With input from agencies)

Vondrousova becomes first unseeded woman to win Wimbledon in Open Era