What a difference a year makes.
Last year they were fighting for a place in the Wimbledon ladies' singles finals. This year, Eugenie Bouchard and Simona Halep are out in the first round after losing their opening matches against opponents outside of the top 100 ranking—China's Duan Ying-Ying, 7-6 (3), 6-4, and Slovakia's Jana Cepelova, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3.
Bouchard has been in quite a slump this year and revealed that the grade 2 abdominal tear that forced her to retire from her third round match against Belinda Bencic at last week's Eastbourne tournament, left her with very little preparation time for Wimbledon.
Eugenie Bouchard (EPA)
"In my head it was no question that I was gonna play even though I was advised not to. It's just the way I am, it's so hard to be forced not to play tennis especially at Wimbledon." - Bouchard during her post-match press conference.
In what could be the day's most unusual news, Bouchard was almost (or was she?) given a dress code violation after the strap of her black sports bra peeked out of her white tennis top.
The world number 3 Halep meanwhile put up a valiant effort despite reportedly losing a toenail in the first set. Halep's 34 unforced errors didn't help, however, against Cepelova's attacking game.
“Simona’s a very good player but today was my day,” the 22-year-old Cepelova said.
Main image: Simona Halep reacts after a point during her opening round match against Duan Ying-Ying. (Getty Images)
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