Wimbledon's most famous upsets in men's singles

Sport360 staff 21:01 02/07/2016
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  • Top seed Djokovic was beaten by Querrey in four sets.

    American Sam Querrey served up a monumental shock by beating Novak Djokovic in the third round at Wimbledon.

    Djokovic held all four grand slam titles coming to Wimbledon but will relinquish his grass-court crown now after a four-set loss on Court One.

    Here, Press Association Sport looks at some of the tournament’s most famous upsets in the men’s singles.

    1967: Charlie Pasarell v Manuel Santana

    Pasarell opened the championships against title holder and top seed Manuel Santana of Spain, and sensationally dismissed him 10-8 6-3 2-6 8-6.

    Charlie Pasarell.

    Charlie Pasarell.

    1970: Roger Taylor v Rod Laver

    When the great Laver faced Britain’s Taylor in the fourth round, he had won 31 consecutive matches and was favourite to complete a Wimbledon hat-trick. Taylor, advised by the press that he may as well stay at home, overwhelmed the champion 4-6 6-4 6-2 6-1 on a rising tide of patriotic fervour.

    1987: Peter Doohan v Boris Becker

    ‘Boom Boom Boris’ became Wimbledon’s youngest champion at the age of 17 in 1985, and made a successful defence a year later. He arrived at the 1987 championships as favourite but the Australian played the match of his life in the second round to win 7-6 (7/4) 4-6 6-2 6-4.

    Peter Doohan.

    Peter Doohan.

    1991: Nick Brown v Goran Ivanisevic

    Charismatic Croatian Ivanisevic was one year away from reaching his first Wimbledon final when he came up against unheralded Briton Nick Brown in the second round. Brown, a 29-year-old who had quit the game for five years and was two years into his comeback, won 4-6 6-3 7-6 (7/3) 6-3 in an upset that was hailed by the ATP’s own computer as the biggest shock since world rankings started 18 years earlier. Ivanisevic was seeded number 10, while Brown was 591st in the world.

    2002: George Bastl v Pete Sampras

    Sampras returned to his favourite hunting ground in 2002 without a tournament win in two years and carrying an injury. The seven-time champion nevertheless suffered one of the most surprising defeats of his career to world 145 George Bastl of Switzerland in the second round. Sampras had battled back from two sets down to level, on the now-demolished Court Two which was famed as the ‘Graveyard of Champions’, but Bastl held his nerve to win 6-3 6-2 4-6 3-6 6-4.

    2003: Lleyton Hewitt v Ivo Karlovic

    Hewitt became just the second returning champion to exit in the first round as he fell foul of the big-serving Croatian, who was making his grand slam debut. Karlovic sealed a stunning 1-6 7-6 (7/5) 6-3 6-4 success over the Australian.

    2012: Rafael Nadal v Lukas Rosol

    Unsung Czech Rosol claimed a remarkable second-round victory. Rosol sent multiple grand slam winner Nadal packing, completing a 6-7 (9/11) 6-4 6-4 2-6 6-4 success under the Centre Court roof.

    2013: Rafael Nadal v Steve Darcis

    Nadal refused to blame troublesome knees in the wake of his shock opening-round loss. The Spaniard suffered a first-week exit from Wimbledon for the second successive year as Darcis – the world number 135 – prevailed 7-6 (7/4) 7-6 (10/8) 6-4.

    2013: Roger Federer v Sergiy Stakhovsky

    Federer described his first-round victory over Victor Hanescu as ”perfect”, but his joy did not last long as the seven-time champion bowed out of the tournament in the next round with a 6-7 (5/7) 7-6 (7/5) 7-5 7-6 (7/5) defeat to unheralded Ukrainian Stakhovsky.

    2015: Rafael Nadal v Dustin Brown

    Nadal slumped to a 7-5 3-6 6-4 6-4 defeat against dreadlocked German-Jamaican Dustin Brown. Brown’s unconventional style included shots that will not be found in any tennis coaching manual, but it made for a thrilling spectacle against the out-of-form Spaniard.

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