WIMBLEDON -- American Sloane Stephens made a first-round exit at Wimbledon on Monday, losing to unseeded Donna Vekic.
Stephens, the No. 4 seed in London, failed to produce the same standard that saw her finish runner-up at last month's French Open as she fell 6-1, 6-3 in to her Croatian opponent on Court No. 1.
"I had a good training block after the French," Stephens said. "I did more than I would normally do. I came in here feeling not too bad. I thought I'd have not a great tournament, but I was feeling good about myself, the way I was playing.
"Obviously a bit of confidence coming off of a French Open final, as any player would. But, yeah, just today was unfortunate, unlucky. I played a good player on grass. That's tough. Sometimes that happens."
World No. 55 Vekic had previously lost all five of her career meetings against a top-5 opponent before facing US Open champion Stephens, who suffered first-round defeat for the second successive year at the All England Club.
Vekic next faces Viktoria Kuzmova of Slovakia or Rebecca Peterson of Sweden.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.