LONDON, July 2. /TASS/. Russian tennis player Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova has been defeated in the first round of the prestigious Wimbledon Championships by Swiss Belinda Bencic. The third Grand Slam tennis tournament is held on the grass courts of the All-England Club in Wimbledon, London.

Belinda Bencic outplayed Pavlyuchenkova 6:2, 6:3, racking up the third victory against the Russian in their four meetings. The next opponent for the No. 13 seed Swiss will be Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi.

Twenty-two year old Bencic has twice reached the fourth round stage at Wimbledon (2015, 2018). Her best performance at the Grand Slam tournaments to date is the quarterfinals of the 2014 US Open. The Swiss is currently ranked 13th in the world, she has won three WTA titles.

Twenty-seven year old Pavlyuchenkova has once competed in the quarterfinal match at Wimbledon, in 2016. Over the course of her career, she has reached quarterfinals of all the four Grand Slam tournaments. Her current position in the WTA rankings is 46th, she has won 12 WTA titles.

The 133th edition of the Wimbledon Championships is played over a fortnight and will be concluded on July 14. The tournament’s prize fund is $49.43 million. German Angelique Kerber is the defending champion.