London (AP) In a first-round Wimbledon loss to 72nd-ranked Arthur Rinderknech, who came into Tuesday with a 1-4 career record at the All England Club and no advances past the third round in 18 majors appearances, three-time Grand Slam finalist and No. 3 seed Alexander Zverev was outplayed over five sets.
No. 7 was present. Nikoloz Basilashvili, a 126th-ranked qualifier who has only advanced to the fourth round once in his 31 prior Grand Slam tournaments, sent home Lorenzo Musetti, a semifinalist at Wimbledon last year and the French Open last month, on Tuesday.
The upsets continued on Day 2 of the grass-court major, resulting in at least 12 seeded men missing out on the second round with more to play. This is the biggest number of Wimbledon seeds since the tournament started allocating 32 seeds in 2001.
With eight seeds eliminated before Tuesday was over, there were fewer surprises in the women’s division, though No. 3 Jessica Pegula was one of them. After winning a grass-court title in Germany over the weekend, when she defeated Iga Swiatek in the final, the American, who finished second at last year’s U.S. Open, didn’t really test 116th-ranked Elisabetta Cocciaretto in a 6-2, 6-3 loss that lasted less than an hour.
In addition to No. 26 Marta Kostyuk and No. 25 Magdalena Frech, whose opponent, 18-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko, lost in qualifying last week and only entered the match when another player, Anastasia Potapova, withdrew due to a hip injury, two other major finalists, No. 5 Zheng Qinwen and No. 15 Karolina Muchova, were also eliminated Tuesday.
However, nothing was nearly as unexpected as Rinderknech’s achievement.
What a time. Such feelings, The 29-year-old Frenchman Rinderknech stated after defeating Zverev 7-6 (3), 6-7 (8), 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-4 in 4 hours and 40 minutes in a match that was stopped Monday night at a set apiece. I’m not even sure where to begin.
He sank to his stomach, face down, on Centre Court after finishing with a backhand winner.
A day after No. 8 Holger Rune and No. 9 Daniil Medvedev left, Zverev joined Musetti, who hadn’t played since a leg injury caused him to quit at Roland-Garros. Musetti lost against Basilashvili 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1, and was ranked among the top-10 losers on Tuesday.
No. 27 Denis Shapovalov, No. 28 Alexander Bublik, and No. 30 Alex Michelsen were among the other seeded men who left on Day 2.
Rinderknech saved all nine break points he faced and delivered 25 aces, securing his victory with some excellent serving. Against Zverev, he won the point on 44 of his 55 trips to the net and converted three break chances.
“This is my first top-five victory in the world’s largest stadium,” Rinderknech remarked. My legs continue to tremble. I’m just overjoyed that the game is over.
What else happened at Wimbledon on Tuesday?
In her final match at the All England Club, two-time champion Petra Kvitova lost to No. 10 Emma Navarro 6-3, 6-1. The 35-year-old Kvitova, who will retire following the U.S. Open, stated, “This place holds the best memories I could wish for.” I won Wimbledon twice, something I never would have imagined. No. 1 Jannik Sinner was never challenged in a straight-set triumph, and both men’s No. 4 seed Taylor Fritz and defending women’s winner Barbora Krejcikova required comebacks to prevail. Later, we saw Coco Gauff and Novak Djokovic in action.
Who is scheduled to play at the All England Club on Wednesday?
The Centre Court schedule begins with No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka taking on Marie Bouzkova at 1:30 p.m. local time (8:30 a.m. ET). Carlos Alcaraz, the two-time defending men’s champion, will then play 733rd-ranked British player Oliver Tarvet of the University of San Diego. Marketa Vondrousova, the 2023 Wimbledon champion, will then play Emma Raducanu, the 2021 U.S. Open champion.
