Upsets have been the order of the day at this year’s Wimbledon with most of the top seeds in both men’s and women’s singles eliminated by lower ranked players. While this has robbed the tournament of some of its sheen, it has also made it interesting by introducing the element of uncertainty. Ajeyo Basu explores
The order of the tennis universe has been turned upside down over the last couple of weeks.
This year’s Wimbledon has been like no other.
It is perhaps for the first time in the history of the tournament that three of the top five seeds, including the defending champion, have been eliminated by the quarterfinal stage.
The first jolt came as early as the opening round when title contender Rafael Nadal was shocked by unseeded Steve Darcis of Belguim 7-6 (4), 7-6 (8), 6-4 in straight sets.
Although Darcis, who is currently ranked 135th in the world, had to fight hard before he could earn his ticket to the second round.
Rafael Nadal of Spain entered this year’s Wimbledon in a confident mood after winning a record eighth French Open title at Roland Garros, having defeated top-seeded Novak Djokovic in a exhausting five-set contest in the semifinals.
Nadal suffered from a partially torn patellar tendon during the middle of 2012, which caused him to withdraw from the 2012 london Olympics and stay sidelined for nearly a year after his second round loss at Wimbledon 2012.
Despite this long hiatus, Nadal returned and displayed a championship performance during this year’s French Open.
However, the fifth-seeded Nadal did not have as much luck at Wimbledon, the low bounce of the grass courts at the All England Club proving too tough to handle for his damaged knee.
He was clearly struggling during his contest against Darcis, his injured knee heavily strapped.
However, the Spaniard’s determination and fighting spirit was on ample display as he fought hard enough on one good leg and stretched the Belgian till the end.
The second big jolt was not too long in coming.
It came in the second round when defending champion Roger Federer crashed out after being upset by Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine, a player ranked 116th in the world.
The shock 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/5), 7-5, 7-6 (7/5) loss in a thrilling, three-hour duel on Centre Court brought the curtain down on seven-time Wimbledon champion Federer’s extraordinary record in the sport’s four majors.
For the Swiss master — the winner of the highest number of men’s singles titles in the history of Wimbledon — it was his worst Grand Slam defeat in a decade.
The Swiss legend had made it to the quarterfinal stages of 36 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments.
He has not gone out of a Grand Slam before the last eight since the French Open in 2004.
It was his earliest Wimbledon defeat since he was knocked out in the first round in 2002 by Mario Ancic. The following year he lost in the first round of the French Open to luis Horna.
Stakhovsky became the first Ukrainian man to reach the Wimbledon third round since Andrei Medvedev in 1997.
Federer, who sports the most Grand Slams in tennis history with 17, including seven Wimbledon titles, started his Wimbledon campaign well enough.
He breezed through his first round match against Romanian Victor Hanescu 6-3, 6-2, 6-0 in straight sets, putting away 32 winners compared to Hanescu’s 14.
But his second round exit has raised questions over how long he could continue with his career.
The 31-year-old has been struggling with his form since the last few months and I currently a shadow of the player who used to dominate men’s tennis at one point.
The other Spaniard, fourth seeded David Ferer, also fell victim to a lower ranked opponent.
Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina, who had suffered a, injury to his knee in his earlier match which severely restricted his movements, recovered from a horrible early fall to overpower Ferrer 6-2, 6-4, 7-6(5) and reach the Wimbledon semi-finals for the first time in his career.
The early exits of Federer and Nadal have opened up the draw for the participants of the 2012 Wimbledon Finals — top-seed Novak Djokovic and second seed and home crowd favourite Andy Murray.
These two tennis superstars have had no major problems advancing to the Round of 16.
Murrayrewrote history last year, becoming the only British player to reach the final in the Open era and the first since Fred Perry in 1936 before he was elbowed by Federer.
Having won only the U.S. Open out of the four Grand Slams so far, Murray hopes to win his first ever Wimbledon and break the British jinx in front of his home supporters.
But the Scot will have to overcome a formidable challenge from Djokovic is seeking his second Wimbledon and seventh Grand Slam overall.
The shocks and upsets were not confined to the men’s section.
The women’s singles competition was affected by the upset bug as well.
Not even one from among the top ten seeds including top seed and defending champion Serena Williams, who was almost unanimously tipped to win the title could make it to the final.
Marion Bartoli of France, who was seeded 15th and 23rd seed Sabine lisicki of Germany played the final.
The low bounce of the grass courts is partially to blame for the unexpected results.
The surface came in for sharp criticism from Sharapova after she was injured during her loss to unheralded Michelle larcher De Brito of Portugal.
The early elimination of so many big names and crowd pullers has robbed this year’s tournament of some of its sheen.
Of the four semifinalists in the men’s singles event, two are from outside the top five seeds.
Juan Martin Del Potro is seeded eighth while Jerzy Janowicz of Poland is placed way down at 24.
However, the uncertain nature of the competition has also brought in an element of drama and has added spice to this year’s edition.
Del Potro, who was up against Djokovic in the last four stage, gave the Serb some tough competition.
The Argentine giant was in top form and despite playing with an injury proved equal to his much fancied opponent for most of the match.
Although the legions of fans of the likes of Federer and Nadal have probably been left disappointed, the rare show of assertiveness from the lower ranked players has brought in a whiff of fresh air by breaking — at least for the time being — the dominance of the top players.
Monotony can sometimes kill the excitement and entertainment quotient of a sport. With Federer, Nadal and Djokovic stamping their dominance on almost every Grand Slam in sight, perhaps tennis was starting to suffer from the deja vu factor.
This year’s Wimbledon has restored some of the element of uncertainty which makes watching sport worthwhile.