Wimbledon: The record number of seeded men out in the 1st round includes Zverev and Musetti

LONDON (AP) – There was three-time Grand Slam finalist and No. 3 seed Alexander Zverev, outplayed over five sets in a first-round loss at Wimbledon to 72nd-ranked Arthur Rinderknech, who entered Tuesday with a 1-4 career record at the All England Club and zero trips past the third round in 18 appearances at majors.

There was No. 7 Lorenzo Musetti, a semifinalist at Wimbledon last year and at the French Open last month, sent home Tuesday by Nikoloz Basilashvili, a qualifier ranked 126th who only once has made it as far as the fourth round in his 31 previous Grand Slam tournaments.

And on and on went the upsets on Day 2 at the grass-court major, meaning at least 12 seeded men would fail to get to the second round with more left to play – the highest total at Wimbledon since it began assigning 32 seeds in 2001.

There were fewer surprises in the women’s bracket, with eight seeds gone before Tuesday was done, but No. 3 Jessica Pegula was among those leaving. The American was the runner-up at last year’s U.S. Open and was coming off a grass-court title in Germany over the weekend, defeating Iga Swiatek in the final, yet didn’t pose much of a challenge to 116th-ranked Elisabetta Cocciaretto in a 6-2, 6-3 loss that lasted less than an hour.

Two other major finalists, No. 5 Zheng Qinwen and No. 15 Karolina Muchova, also were eliminated Tuesday, as were No. 26 Marta Kostyuk and No. 25 Magdalena Frech, whose opponent, 18-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko, lost in qualifying last week and only got into the field when another player, Anastasia Potapova, withdrew with an injured hip.

Nothing was quite as out-of-nowhere, though, as Rinderknech’s success.

“What a moment. Such emotions,” Rinderknech, a 29-year-old from France, said after completing his 7-6 (3), 6-7 (8), 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-4 victory across 4 hours, 40 minutes against Zverev in a match suspended Monday night at a set apiece. “I don’t even know where to start.”

He ended things with a backhand winner, then dropped to his stomach, face down, on Centre Court.

Zverev joined Musetti – who hadn’t played since a leg injury forced him to stop at Roland-Garros and was a 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 loser against Basilashvili – as top-10 losers on Tuesday, a day after No. 8 Holger Rune and No. 9 Daniil Medvedev departed.

Other seeded men exiting on Day 2 included No. 27 Denis Shapovalov, No. 28 Alexander Bublik and No. 30 Alex Michelsen.

Rinderknech pulled off his win thanks to some terrific serving, delivering 25 aces and saving all nine break points he faced. He converted three break chances against Zverev and won the point on 44 of his 55 trips to the net.

“It’s my first top-five win, in the biggest stadium in the world,” Rinderknech said. “My legs are still shaking. I’m just so happy the match is finished.”

Two-time champion Petra Kvitova played her final match at the All England Club, bowing out 6-3, 6-1 against No. 10 Emma Navarro. “This place holds the best memories I could wish for,” said the 35-year-old Kvitova, who will retire after the U.S. Open. “I never dreamed of winning a Wimbledon and I won it twice.” Defending women’s champion Barbora Krejcikova and men’s No. 4 seed Taylor Fritz both needed comebacks to win, and No. 1 Jannik Sinner was never troubled in a straight-set victory. Novak Djokovic and Coco Gauff were in action later.

No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka starts the Centre Court program against Marie Bouzkova at 1:30 p.m. local time (8:30 a.m. ET), followed by two-time defending men’s champion Carlos Alcaraz against 733rd-ranked University of San Diego player Oliver Tarvet of Britain, and then 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova vs. 2021 U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu.