The game, in largely sunny conditions, got going later than anticipated, as it was preceded on Court Number 3 by a lengthy three-setter lasting over two hours, which saw Elina Svitolina (Ukraine) overcome Maria Sakkari of Greece. Spectators got more of the same in Kontaveit and Muchova's opening set, which went to a tie breaker. The Estonian had the initiative through most of the set, but could never quite draw far enough ahead of her opponent to wrap things up in games, only doing so on tie-breaker points, ultimately clinching the second set 7:6 (9:7).

The second set saw a similar patter until after things were tied up at 3:3 in games, when the Czech player pulled ahead, most crucially breaking Kontaveit's serve two games later to take things to 5:3. In a competition which has already seen competitors fined for not trying hard enough, or having to pull out on the brink of defeat, Kontaveit, 23, from Tallinn, never gave up, however, winning three matchpoints in the final set and match-deciding game. While things stood at 40:15 in Kontaveit's favour, Muchova neutralized them to bring the scoreline to deuce, with an error by the Estonian giving Muchova matchpoint, which she duly won. The game lasted an hour and 38 minutes.

The result means things have gone from having two Estonians represented in three competitions at Wimbledon – Kontaveit in the ladies' doubles as well as singles, and Kaia Kanepi in the latter, to nothing, in the space of a little over 48 hours. Kanepi, a some-time Wimbledon quarter finalist, was knocked out by Belinda Bencic (Switzerland) on Thursday, and Kontaveit and her partner Darja Kasatkina (Russia) lost their first round ladies' doubles encounter with Camelia Begu and Monica Niculescu, both of Romania.

The competition enters its second week on Monday, with the finals scheduled for the weekend as per tradition.