Wimbledon 2018: Champion Garbine Muguruza falls to Van Uytvanck in second round

The Spaniard suffered the earliest exit of a defending champion at the All England Club since Steffi Graf was beaten in the first round in 1994.

Muguruza was unhappy that her second-round match had been scheduled as the last game on Court Two on Thursday. The Spaniard was beaten 5-7 6-2 6-1 by little-known Belgian Alison Van Uytvanck in fading light, but shrugged at first when asked about the scheduling and, after a long pause, said: "I was ready to play, that's it", as if not wanting to give excuses for her loss.

But she went on to say she had been surprised to see where and when she was due to play.

However a clearly disgruntled Muguruza added that Van Uytvanck had played well.

"She played big, took lots of risks and it worked for her. My level was not where I wanted it to be," Muguruza said. "She has a very good game for this surface. It was tough for me facing an opponent having a great day, and the match is slipping out of your hands a bit.

"I wasn’t thinking I had to defend anything, I was just thinking of trying to win."