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Wimbledon 2014: Women's seeds Samantha Stosur and Sloane Stephens crash out

Samantha Stosur of Australia during the Wimbledon Ladies' Singles first round match against Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium on day one
Image: Samantha Stosur: Lost to Yanina Wickmayer in straight sets

Former US Open champion Samantha Stosur was among the early casualties on the first day at Wimbledon.

Stosur, seeded 17th, has traditionally struggled in the singles at the All England Club and the Australian suffered her sixth opening round defeat there as she lost 6-3 6-4 to Yanina Wickmayer.

Sloane Stephens joined Stosur in crashing out as the 18th seed was toppled by Maria Kirilenko. The Russian, a quarter-finalist in 2012, came through after a 6-2 7-6 (8-6) victory.

There were no such problems for 2011 Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, who cruised into the second round after a 6-3 6-0 win over Andrea Hlavackova.

Kvitova has not been in the best form this year and suffered early-round exits at both the Australian Open and French Open but came through with ease against her fellow Czech player.

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Eighth seed Victoria Azarenka also progressed, the former Australian Open champion prevailing 6-3 7-5 against Mirjana Lucic-Baroni.

The former world No 1, a semi-finalist in 2011 and 2012, is back in action after a foot injury forced her withdrawal from the French Open, as well as earlier tournaments in Doha, Miami, Madrid and Rome.

Current Australian Open champion Li Na went through with a 7-5 6-2 victory over Poland’s Paula Kania, as she began her bid to get past the quarter-finals for the first time.

Former champion Venus Williams was pushed to three sets by Spaniard Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor before the American 30th seed won 6-4 4-6 6-2.

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