Tennis
Day two drama at Wimbledon as top seeds crash out─── MORGAN PIEK 09:04 Wed, 02 Jul 2025
Day two at Wimbledon was filled with upsets, as several top-seeded players were knocked out of the prestigious grass-court Grand Slam in London.
The biggest upsets on Tuesday came in the women’s singles at SW19, with French Open champion and second seed Coco Gauff, as well as her fellow American and third seed Jessica Pegula, both making early exits.
World number 42, Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine, delivered the biggest shock of the tournament so far by ousting one of the pre-tournament favourites, Gauff, in straight sets, winning 7-6, 6-1 in a relatively comfortable fashion.
Iga Swiatek. Photo: AELTC/Simon Bruty
Earlier in the day, Pegula was also sent packing after going down 6-2, 6-3 to Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto.
There was some good news, though, as defending women’s singles champion Barbora Krejcíková advanced to the second round. The unseeded Czech had to dig deep to come from behind and beat Alexandra Eala of the Philippines 3-6, 6-2, 6-1.
Five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek of Poland had a far more straightforward outing, cruising to a 7-5, 6-1 win over Russia’s Polina Kudermetova.
Jannik Sinner. Photo: AELTC/Florian Eisele
In the men’s singles, two top-ten seeds were also shown the door. Germany’s Alexander Zverev and Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti were both eliminated in surprise defeats.
Third seed Zverev lost a five-set thriller to France’s Arthur Rinderknech, going down 7-6, 6-7, 6-3, 6-7, 6-4. Meanwhile, seventh seed Musetti was beaten 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 by Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili.
Meanwhile, world number one Jannik Sinner made light work of his opening match. The Italian barely broke a sweat in dismissing his compatriot Luca Nardi 6-4, 6-3, 6-0 to reach the second round.
Novak Djokovic. Photo: AELTC/Joel Marklund
The USA’s fifth seed, Taylor Fritz, staged a remarkable comeback to beat France’s Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard. After dropping the first two sets, Fritz rallied to win 6-7, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 6-4.
Seven-time champion Novak Djokovic also got his campaign underway in solid fashion. The Serbian began his bid for a 25th Grand Slam title with a 6-1, 6-7, 6-2, 6-2 win over France’s Alexandre Müller.
South Africa’s top-ranked men’s singles player, Lloyd Harris, will be in action on Wednesday afternoon in his second-round clash against Russia’s Andrey Rublev. The 14th-seeded Rublev defeated Harris 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 in the first round of the French Open in May at Roland Garros in Paris.
