Petra Kvitova and Reilly Opelka were among some of the big names in action on the first day of the 2025 grasscourt season. With the former playing the inaugural match at the Andy Murray Arena, Queen’s Club, the latter was in action at the Libema Open in ‘s-Hertogenbosch.
Both players, however, failed to secure a win and succumbed to losses against inspired opponents. They weren’t the only names to have come up short on the day. Here, we take a look at four surprising losses from Day 1 of the Queen’s Club, Stuttgart, ‘s-Hertogenbosch:
Beatriz Haddad Maia def. Petra Kvitova (Queen’s Tennis Championships)
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Solid serving (including holding a service game after 10 deuces) and explosive shotmaking from the baseline saw Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon champion, take the opening set 6-2.
Haddad Maia, however, put her foot down on serve and was not broken for the remainder of the contest. She lost only five points in that department in the second set and fended off three break points in the decider to take the win 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. On paper, she was the higher-ranked opponent, but her recent form and Kvitova’s blistering start to the contest made the outcome lean towards the surprising side.
Jan-Lennard Struff def. Matteo Arnaldi (Stuttgart Open)
Sitting outside the top-100 of the world rankings, Jan-Lennard was always going to be up against it when facing Matteo Arnaldi in the opening round of the Stuttgart Open.
The German possesses a big serve and it was on full showcase in this match. He won 90% of the points behind his first serve, hit 10 aces and fended off the only break point he faced in the match.
Unable to put pressure of his opponent’s serve, Arnaldi buckled from the line himself. He dropped serve at crucial junctures in both sets to lose by an identical scoreline 6-4, 6-4.
Mark Lajal def. Reilly Opelka ('s-Hertogenbosch)
Reilly Opelka’s big serve makes him a tricky opponent for just about anyone on the quick grasscourts. Mark Lajal, however, managed to hold his ground against the American in the final round of qualifying at the 2025 Libema Open being played at 's-Hertogenbosch.
Lajal matched Opelka in terms of the serving prowess on the day, thundering down six aces as compared to his opponent’s eight. He, in fact, ended up with better first-serve winning percentages 86% to 78%.
As the numbers would suggest, the match was heavily dominated by serve. There was only one break of serve in the contest, but it was enough to see Lajal sail through 7-6(3), 6-3.
Anastasia Zakharova def. Donna Vekic (Queen's Club Championships)
Anastasia Zakharova had not won a Tour-level match this year before arriving in London. That stat makes her dominant dismissal of last year’s Wimbledon semifinalist Donna Vekic one of the most surprising results of the day.
The 23-year-old was undeterred by her more seasoned opponent’s flat, pacey groundstrokes. She held her ground well and frustrated her opponent into overpressing.
The Croat was also wasteful with breakpoint opportunities but it was mostly credit to how well composed her opponent was throughout the match. Zakharova continued to use short angles and big serves to bail herself out of trouble when things got tight, ekeing out a 6-3, 6-3 win.
