Wimbledon: After having high expectations, Zverev stunned by tricky Rinderknech

Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech beat German Alexander Zverev, the No 3 seed, 7-6 (3), 6-7 (8), 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-4 to advance to the second round of Wimbledon at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London on Tuesday evening.

The result is Rinderknech’s first-ever top five victory and the German’s first opening-round defeat at a Grand Slam since 2019 at the grass-court Grand Slam.

13 of the 32 men’s seeds at Wimbledon have now fallen after just the first round – with Zverev the biggest casualty.

A 24-hour battle

The clash was split over two days, with the first two sets being played on Monday night – before the 23:00 curfew was put in place.

Rinderknech had a prime opportunity to take a stranglehold of the match, holding two set points in the second-set tiebreak, including one on his serve.

However, it was the more experienced Zverev who claimed the second set and – seemingly – swung the odds back in his favour.

When the players resumed on Tuesday, however, it seemed as if Rinderknech hadn’t stepped off Centre Court for a single minute, breaking early in the second set before serving out the third set with ease.

The fourth set followed a similar pattern to the initial two, with a tight tiebreaker going the way of Zverev after the Frenchman failed to capitalise on a minibreak – the German launching down a 136mph second serve at 5-5.

In the fifth, the world No 3 reverted back to more passive play, with the bolder Rinderknech breaking early and completing the upset with a cross-court backhand winner, falling to the ground in celebration – and relief.

“I’m super happy, thank you to the crowd for supporting me, I still get goosebumps! This sport is so tough, there was a lot of emotion on the court today,” the victor stated.

Rinderknech, ranked No 72, will play Chilean lucky loser Cristian Garin next.

London (Grand Slam), other first-round results (All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, grass, GBP 53.500.000, most recent results first):

• Alexandre Muller vs. Novak Djokovic
• Marcos Giron vs. Camilo Ugo Carabelli: tuesday
• Jack Draper vs. Sebastian Baez: tuesday
• Tomas Martin Etcheverry vs. Jack Pinnington Jones: tuesday
• Brandon Nakashima vs. Yunchaokete Bu: tuesday
• Rinky Hijikata beat David Goffin: 6-3, 6-1, 6-1
• Grigor Dimitrov vs. Yoshihito Nishioka: tuesday
• Aleksandar Kovacevic vs. Marton Fucsovics: tuesday
• Gael Monfils vs. Ugo Humbert: tuesday
• Alexander Shevchenko vs. Reilly Opelka: tuesday
• Ben Shelton vs. Alex Bolt: tuesday
• Marin Cilic beat Raphael Collignon: 6-3, 6-4, 6-3
• Jakub Mensik (15) beat Hugo Gaston: 6-1, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2
• Flavio Cobolli (22) beat Beibit Zhukayev (Q): 6-3, 7-6 (7), 6-1
• Tomas Machac (21) beat Damir Dzumhur: 6-3, 6-2, 6-4
• August Holmgren (Q) beat Quentin Halys: 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-4
• Taylor Fritz (5) beat Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard: 6-7 (6), 6-7 (8), 6-4, 7-6 (6), 6-4
• Corentin Moutet beat Francisco Comesana: 6-4, 6-4, 6-2
• Shintaro Mochizuki (Q) beat Giulio Zeppieri (Q): 2-6, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6), 7-5
• Daniel Evans (WC) beat Jay Clarke (WC): 6-1, 7-5, 6-2
• Botic van de Zandschulp beat Matteo Arnaldi: 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-4
• Pedro Martinez Portero beat George Loffhagen (WC): 2-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2
• Sebastian Ofner beat Hamad Medjedovic: 7-6 (8), 3-1 ret.
• Jannik Sinner (1) beat Luca Nardi: 6-4, 6-3, 6-0
• Jaume Munar beat Alexander Bublik (28): 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2
• Mariano Navone beat Denis Shapovalov (27): 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-4
• Jesper De Jong beat Christopher Eubanks: 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (7), 6-3, 7-6 (3)
• Nikoloz Basilashvili (Q) beat Lorenzo Musetti (7): 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1
• Fabian Marozsan beat James McCabe (Q): 6-1, 6-4, 6-3
• Miomir Kecmanovic beat Alex Michelsen (30): 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (6)
• Arthur Cazaux (Q) beat Adam Walton: 6-3, 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-7 (5), 6-1
• Alex De Minaur (11) beat Roberto Carballes Baena: 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (2)
• Lorenzo Sonego beat Jaime Faria (Q): 6-3, 6-4, 6-2
• Tommy Paul (13) beat Johannus Monday (WC): 6-4, 6-4, 6-2
• Aleksandar Vukic beat Chun-Hsin Tseng: 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (5)
• Gabriel Diallo beat Daniel Altmaier: 6-1, 6-2, 6-4
• Jenson Brooksby beat Tallon Griekspoor (31): 6-2, 7-5, 6-3
• Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (26) beat Brandon Holt: 6-2, 6-4, 7-5
• Kamil Majchrzak beat Matteo Berrettini (32): 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3
• Jan-Lennard Struff beat Filip Misolic (Q): 6-2, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3
• Andrey Rublev (14) beat Laslo Djere: 6-0, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (9), 7-6 (6)
• Cristian Garin beat Chris Rodesch (Q): 7-6 (8), 6-4, 6-4
• Karen Khachanov (17) beat Mackenzie McDonald: 7-5, 6-4, 6-4
• Billy Harris beat Dusan Lajovic (LL): 6-3, 6-2, 6-4
• Ethan Quinn beat Henry Searle (WC): 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (11), 6-2
• Joao Fonseca beat Jacob Fearnley: 6-4, 6-1, 7-6 (5)
• Felix Auger-Aliassime (25) beat James Duckworth: 6-2, 3-6, 6-7 (2), 6-4, 6-4
• Nuno Borges beat Francisco Cerundolo (16): 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-0
• Luciano Darderi beat Roman Safiullin: 7-6 (3), 1-6, 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-1
• Carlos Alcaraz (2) beat Fabio Fognini: 7-5, 6-7 (5), 7-5, 2-6, 6-1
• Valentin Royer (Q) beat Stefanos Tsitsipas (24): 6-3, 6-2 ret.
• Nicolas Jarry (Q) beat Holger Rune (8): 4-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4
• Lloyd Harris beat Zizou Bergs: 7-6 (7), 7-6 (2), 6-7 (5), 6-2
• Arthur Fery (WC) beat Alexei Popyrin (20): 6-4, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4
• Cameron Norrie beat Roberto Bautista Agut: 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3)
• Frances Tiafoe (12) beat Elmer Moller: 6-3, 6-4, 6-2
• Benjamin Bonzi beat Daniil Medvedev (9): 7-6 (2), 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-2
• Adrian Mannarino (Q) beat Christopher O’Connell: 6-2, 6-4, 6-3
• Mattia Bellucci beat Oliver Crawford (WC): 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4
• Jiri Lehecka (23) beat Hugo Dellien: 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, 7-6
• Learner Tien beat Nishesh Basavareddy: 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-2
• Jordan Thompson beat Vit Kopriva: 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (1), 6-1
• Oliver Tarvet (Q) beat Leandro Riedi (Q): 6-4, 6-4, 6-4