Five greatest Wimbledon shocks
In a major shocker to most Tennis enthusiasts and many fans, Rafael Nadal made a quick, and shocking, exit from Wimbledon 2013 yesterday, in the very first round of the championship. A quick look at 5 of the greatest Wimbledon shocks over the course of Tennis history.
In a major shocker to most Tennis enthusiasts and many fans, Rafael Nadal made a quick, and shocking, exit from Wimbledon 2013 on Monday, in the very first round of the championship. Nadal lost to 135-seeded Steve Darcis in straight sets, 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (10/8), 6-4 in posssible the one of biggest first round exit, and a rather unexpected one too.
Let's take a quick look at five of the greatest Wimbledon shocks over the course of Tennis history:
Of late, the grass court has been proving to be not so green after all for Rafael Nadal. Rafa, as he's popularly known among fans, crashed out of last year's Wimbledon in a similar fashion.
In 2012 he faired just a tad bit better and crashed out in the second round of the championship.
He lost to Lukas Rosol, who ranked 100 in the world tennis rankings. Rosol, known to be a hard-hitter, defeated Rafa 6-7 6-4 6-4 2-6 6-4.
The match tested a lot of patiences, of not just Nadal but also his loyal fans who were taken for a major surprise.
Being the defending champion and a top seed, Lleytin Hewitt was a major favorite in that year's championship.
However, his supporters were in for big, bad surprise.
Hewitt lost to the 6'10" tall Croatian, Ivo Karlovic who ranked 202 in the world.
Karlovic won 1-6, 7-6, 6-3, 6-4, and Hewitt became only the second defending champion in the history of the event, to have made an exit on on the very first day.
Pete Sampras known for his quick gameplay suffered a major defeat by George Bastl, ranked 145th in the world.
Seven-time champion Sampras lost to Bastl 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 3-6, 6-4.
Sampras retired soon, so he never played the tournament again. However he did win the following US Open Championship a few weeks later.
Third seeded Andre Agassi literally made a quick exit from the championship, after a very impressive career revival.
He lost to Paradorn Srichaphan in straight sets 6-4, 7-6, 6-2 in a very quick second match that lasted barely 50 minutes.
Agassi joined his old rival Sampras after the ouster and Srichapan managed to get into the top 30 as a result of his surprising win.
Top seed Martina Hingis was stunned by Jelena Dokic, a 16-year-old qualifier, in the very first round.
In less than an hour the 129 ranked Dovic beat world number one Hingis in straight sets 6-2, 6-0.
(With AFP and Reuters inputs)