Swiss fifth seed and French Open runner-up Stan Wawrinka was knocked out of Wimbledon in the first round by Russia’s Daniil Medvedev on Monday, losing 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.
World No49 Medvedev, making his Wimbledon debut, goes on to face Belgian qualifier Ruben Bemelmans for a place in the last 32.
It was Wawrinka’s sixth first round loss at the All England Club, although his efforts were hampered by a left knee injury which required an ice pack at the changeovers.
It also meant that 33-year-old Wawrinka’s hopes of becoming just the sixth man to complete the career Grand Slam were ended for another year.
Having lost in the first round at Queen’s Club last month, Wawrinka’s grass-court campaign amounted to two matches and two defeats.
“I wasn’t feeling the way I wanted to feel. But play against a great player who I think was confident today, was playing well, was playing faster. Was a tough loss,” said Wawrinka, who had a chance of taking the world No1 ranking from Andy Murray this fortnight but needed to win the Wimbledon title to do so.
“For sure was a bad grass court two tournament for me. That’s clear. First one was not what I wanted. Unfortunately it’s like that. I had some problem with the knee since Queen’s, so was not the way I wanted to get ready for this tournament.
“Today was tough. I was expecting to feel a little bit better. When I play a player that level, it’s difficult to win. He went for it, was playing well, so it was a tough, tough day.”
For 21-year-old Medvedev, it was a first win at the Grand Slam level, coming on the back of an impressive grass court season.
He made the semi-finals in Eastbourne last week where it took Novak Djokovic to stop him, as well as the quarter-finals at ‘s-Hertogenbosch and Queen’s.
“A year ago I was ranked 250. If someone told me in one year I would win on Centre Court I would tell you you are joking,” said Medvedev, who kissed the grass of Centre Court to celebrate his victory.
He later added in his press conference: “First of all, it’s my first Grand Slam win. So even I guess if I didn’t beat Stan, it would be one of the biggest wins in my life.
“My first top-10 win. I have no words to describe this. I guess this memory will be with me forever.”
