7th-seeded Ana Ivanovic, a semifinalist at the French Open, has been knocked out of Wimbledon by world No. 158 qualifier Bethanie-Mattek Sands, 6-3, 6-4.
The American, a former world No. 30, played fantastic tennis at net, winning 29 of 38 forays to keep Ivanovic off balance all day.
Mattek-Sands, who is also gunning to win her third consecutive doubles major title with partner Lucie Safarova at Wimbledon, says she’s happy to have her first big singles win of the season.
“I came through qualifying,” said Mattek-Sands. “I’ve been feeling great on the grass. I’ve gotten a lot of matches in. I’ve had a really good year playing doubles with my friend Lucie, and this is my first big [singles] win of the year and I’m really happy.”
Mattek-Sands missed six months last season due to hip surgery, and she says she’s playing with a new sense of perspective at the age of 30.
“I think the hip surgery and being out that long really gave me a perspective on playing and enjoying tennis. Last year I was watching all these matches from TV in my house.”
She added: “Ana’s such a nice person, she’s a champion, so it was a really good win for me.”
Into the third round for the first round since 2008 at Wimbledon, Mattek-Sands will next face Belinda Bencic in the third round.