Wimbledon 2018: Reigning champion Garbine Muguruza knocked out in second round by Alison Van Uytvanck

Wimbledon, unlike the US Open, has so far resisted any temptation to install on-court shot clocks to speed up the game, but at this rate the All England Club might need to consider shockometers instead.

Garbine Muguruza, the defending champion, became the latest big-name player to go out of the tournament when she suffered a stunning defeat here on Thursday evening to Belgium’s Alison van Uytvanck.

In losing 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 to the 24-year-old Belgian, Muguruza became the sixth of the top eight women’s seeds to go out. It was the earliest exit by a defending champion since Steffi Graf lost in the first round in 1982.

Simona Halep and Karolina Pliskova, the No 1 and No 7 seeds respectively, are now the only top-eight players left in the women’s event after the second round. Pliskova is the highest ranked player left in the bottom half of the draw, which includes both Serena and Venus Williams.

Muguruza has played in three Grand Slam finals – she lost here in 2015, won at Roland Garros in 2016 and won here last year – but the 24-year-old Spaniard underlined her reputation as one of the game’s most inconsistent players with this defeat on Court 2.

Van Uytvanck is a former French Open quarter-finalist, but the world No 47 has a poor record here, having gone out in the first round in her last three appearances at the All England Club. There was certainly nothing in her form this year to suggest she would be a threat to Muguruza, who is the world No 3.

The Belgian had not won back-to-back matches since February and started the day having won only one match against a top 20 opponent following her victory over Ana Ivanovic, then the world No 12, in Luxembourg three years ago.

With nothing to lose, however, Van Uytvanck went for her shots. She dropped only three games in the last two sets as she pummelled Muguruza with a succession of huge ground strokes to win in an hour and 52 minutes.

Muguruza, who had had to come from a break down to win the opening set, looked stunned by Van Uytvanck’s bombardment. To add to her woes the Spaniard slipped and fell heavily on her shoulder in the final set in attempting to reach a drop shot.

Asked how she had kept her nerve, Van Uytvanck said afterwards: “Inside I was dying, especially serving out for the match. Before that I was actually OK. Obviously you’re nervous when you enter the court and you have to start the match. You always want that first game. But after that I was feeling quite good.

“My confidence was there. I’ve been playing well the last couple of days, so that’s what I took with me on the court. In set two and three I was just there mentally. I was in the zone and just hitting every ball and it was going my way.”