LONDON — It didn’t take long for Wimbledon to produce its first upset on the opening day of the tournament.
Puerto Rican teenager Monica Puig had 38 winners and eliminated fifth-seeded Sara Errani of Italy 6-3, 6-2 Monday in the first match on Court 18 of the grass-court Grand Slam.
The 19-year-old Puig, playing her first grass-court tournament as a pro, outplayed the Italian veteran with her hard-hitting baseline game.
Errani was runner-up at last year’s French Open and had reached at least the semifinals of three of the last five Grand Slams. But on the slick grass at the All England club Monday, she had only 13 winners and was broken four times.
Puig squandered five match points before hitting a forehand winner past Errani to close out the match. The Puerto Rican dropped her racket to the turf and covered her face in her hands.
Errani withdrew from last week’s grass-court warmup at Eastbourne with a leg injury, but showed no signs of any physical problems during the match.
It’s the third time a top-5 women’s seeded player has lost in the first round at Wimbledon since 2001. The others were Martina Hingis in 2000 and Francesca Schiavone in 2010.
The loss marked another humbling Wimbledon exit for Errani.
Last year, the Italian went an entire set without winning a point in losing 6-0, 6-4 in the third round to Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan. Shvedova was the first player in a Grand Slam to achieve a so-called “golden set” by winning 24 straight points.
In another women’s match, former top-ranked Ana Ivanovic of Serbia advanced to the second round with a 7-6 (1), 6-0 win over qualifier Virginie Razzano of France.
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