The season on grass does not last long and, of course, it is most famous for Wimbledon.
Most tennis experts and tennis fans consider this Grand Slam the biggest tournament in all of tennis. Every year during the first two weeks of July we have the opportunity to watch the best players in the world compete on the Wimbledon grass.
In the men’s competition, during the 146-year history of this tournament, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Pete Sampras and Bjorn Borg have stood out.
As for the women, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf and Serena Williams have stood out for their remarkable success at Wimbledon.
I thought it would be fun to write an article about some of the biggest surprises ever at Wimbledon.
The King of Clay Suffered Multiple Upsets Along with Great Victories
Rafael Nadal is perhaps most famous for his extraordinary performance on clay, including at the French Open at Roland Garros. While not as successful on grass, he did win Wimbledon twice (in 2008 & 2010), and made it to the finals on three other occasions (in 2006, 2007 & 2011).
Unfortunately, Nadal is also known for a few brutal losses suffered at the All England Club.
For instance, in the second round of Wimbledon 2012, Nadal, who was the defending Wimbledon champion, was defeated by an unknown Czech player, Lucas Rosol, who at that time was ranked #100 in the ATP rankings. Rosol had to play the qualifiers to qualify for Wimbledon and no one expected him to defeat Nadal.
Nadal won the first set in a tiebreak, and everyone then expected him to cruise to victory. Not only did that not happen, but Rosol shocked Nadal. He won the next two sets and Nadal managed to come back and win the 4th set to tie the match at 2-2.
In the last set Rosol played great and made only two unforced errors with as many as 20 winners. He finished the match with three aces in the final game to win 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 to claim one of the biggest upsets in Wimbledon history.
A year later, Nadal experienced another shocking defeat at the 2013 Wimbledon. This time, the #135 player in the world, the Belgian Steve Darcis, defeated Nadal in the first round, winning 7-6, 7-6, 6-4. For the first time in history, Nadal was eliminated in the first round of a grand slam. Before this match, the Belgian player had only one victory at Wimbledon.
In 2014, Nadal advanced to the 4th round at Wimbledon before being defeated by Nick Kyrgios in four sets. Kyrgios was only 19 years old at the time and was playing in his first Wimbledon after being granted a wild card entry to the tournament.
One of the many highlights of the match was a fantastic half volley that Kyrgios put through his legs. This victory propelled Kyrgios into a top 100 world ranking.
Nadal disappointed his fans again at the 2015 Wimbledon when he was defeated by Dustin Brown in the 2nd round. Brown defeated Nadal in four sets.
FUN FACT: Dustin Brown is one of the few players who has never been defeated by Nadal. He played two matches against the legendary Spanish player and won both times.
Roger Shocks at Wimbledon
Roger Federer is the most successful player in Wimbledon history having won eight championship titles. His breakthrough to the top of the world began at the 2001 Wimbledon when he shocked the tennis world by defeating the defending champion, Pete Sampras.
In fact, Sampras had won the previous four Wimbledon tournaments. Federer was only 19 years-old at the time when he defeated Sampras in five sets. Federer later lost to Tim Henman in the quarterfinals.
Federer then had an incredible run at Wimbledon winning the tournament seven times over the next 10 years (he won his 8th title in 2017).
During this period, Federer did lose one surprising match at the 2013 Wimbledon. Federer who was struggling with a back injury, was defeated in the second round by Sergiy Stakhovsky, a Ukrainian player ranked #116 in the world,. Stakhovsky won in four sets, 7-6, 6-7, 5-7, 6-7. Prior to that match, Federer had an extraordinary 36 consecutive quarterfinals appearances at Grand Slam tournaments.
Ivanišević Wins Wimbledon
Novak Djokovic’s current coach, Goran Ivanišević, shocked the tennis world by winning the 2001 Wimbledon, the same year that Federer defeated Sampras. Ivanišević arrived at the 2001 Wimbledon via a wild card entry and was only ranked #125 in the world.
He was granted a wild card to the tournament because he had previously made it to the Wimbledon finals three times (1992, 1994 & 1998). Ivanišević defeated Tim Henman in a five-set semifinal match.
In the finals, Goran defeated Patrick Rafter in an exciting 5th set tiebreaker, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 2-6, 9-7. Ivanišević is still the only wild card male player in history to win Wimbledon.
Credits: AELTC/Michael Cole
Big Upsets on the Women’s Side?
What Goran Ivanisevic did in the men’s competition, Marketa Vondroušová did in the women’s tournament at this year’s Wimbledon. She arrived at the All England Club as an unseeded player and was ranked #42 in the world. Like Ivanisevic on the men’s side, she became the lowest-ranked player to ever win Wimbledon. Vondroušová defeated Ons Jabeur in the finals.
Steffi Graf arrived at the 1994 Wimbledon having won five of the previous six Wimbledon championships.
Therefore, it was a shock when Lori McNeil defeated Graf in the first round. Until that point, the defending champion had never been eliminated in the first round. McNeil, the #22 player in the world at the time, won in two sets 7-6, 7-5. As Graf returned to win the next two Wimbledon championships (in 1995 & 1996), this loss to McNeil turned out to be the only loss that Graf suffered at Wimbledon between 1991-1996.
Credits: AELTC/Michael Cole
Like Roger Federer, Maria Sharapova’s tennis rise also began at Wimbledon. She won her first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon, in 2004.
At the 2004 Wimbledon, when she was only 17, she surprised two-time defending champion Serena Williams in the final, 6-1,6-4. While she won other Grand Slam tournaments, this ended up being the only time she ever won Wimbledon.
Sharapova’s biggest Wimbledon loss was perhaps in 2013 when she was defeated in the second round by Michelle Larcher de Brito, who at that time was ranked the #131 player in the world. De Brito defeated Sharapova in two sets 6-3, 6-4.
