Ben Shelton has crashed out in the first round of Wimbledon, but he isn’t the only high-profile name to suffer a shock defeat.
The fourth seed at the Grand Slam, American superstar Shelton was beaten in a five-set thriller by Otto Virtanen at Wimbledon.
There was no such upset for his compatriot and fellow ATP top 10 player Taylor Fritz, but many others did fall short at the All England Club.
What was the biggest shock from the first round of Wimbledon this year?
Plenty to choose from…
The five biggest Wimbledon first round upsets
Ben Shelton
Shelton was undoubtedly the biggest name to lose his opening match at Wimbledon, having arguably represented America’s greatest chance of a men’s champion before the event started.
Moreover, he was shocked by a qualifier at the All England Club, and blew a 2-1 set lead as he lost 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(10-8), 2-6, 6-7(9-11).
Casper Ruud
Casper Ruud would have been desperate to finally find some form on the iconic grass courts, but he has done the exact opposite.
Handed a somewhat tricky opener, the 11th seed would still have liked his chances against Hubert Hurkacz, who cruised to a straight-sets win.
Elina Svitolina
Of course, the major upsets have not been limited to the men’s draw, with eighth seed Elina Svitolina unfortunately headlining the WTA shocks.
Kim Clijsters backed Svitolina to reach the Wimbledon semifinals, but she was beaten 5-7, 2-6 by her fellow Ukrainian Daria Snigur.
Maja Chwalinska
Another big upset in the women’s draw, 20th seed Maja Chwalinska led qualifier Mananchaya Sawangkaew before suffering a 6-2, 5-7, 2-6 loss.
Playing her first tournament since reaching the French Open final as a qualifier, Chwalinska was left disappointed after losing at Wimbledon, although she did suffer an unfortunate slip on match point.
Andrey Rublev
12th seed Andrey Rublev represents yet another high-profile early loss at the Grand Slam, again losing to a qualifier.
Falling just shy of four hours, Roman Safiullin triumphed 6-4, 6-7(6-8), 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(14-12) in their epic battle.
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