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Fourth-seeded American Ben Shelton was upset by Finland’s unseeded Otto Virtanen in a five-set marathon in the first round of Wimbledon on Tuesday.
Shelton, a quarterfinalist at the All England Club last year, rebounded from dropping the first set to take the next two. But Virtanen, ranked 140th in the world, refused to give in and finished with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (8), 6-2, 7-6 (9) triumph that required four hours and 21 minutes.
No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev escaped a similar fate in four sets, but he needed nearly three hours and multiple tiebreaks to earn a 6-4, 6-7 (8), 7-6 (5), 7-6 (0) victory over Belgium’s Alexander Blockx.
The German and reigning French Open champion found his groove in the fourth set, rolling off seven consecutive points to close it out. He’ll meet France’s Valentin Royer on Thursday.
No. 5 seed Alex de Minaur of Australia, No. 6 seed Taylor Fritz — Zverev’s potential quarterfinal opponent — and 13th-seeded Jiri Lehecka of Czechia recorded straight-set victories.
No. 10 Alexander Bublik of Russia needed three hours, 39 minutes to dispense Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis by a 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (10), 6-3, 6-4 count. Twenty-year-old Jakub Mensik of Czechia, the No. 15 seed, also needed five sets to knock out Great Britain’s Toby Samuel, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7).
The Shelton-Virtanen match also required a fifth-set tiebreaker — and Shelton had his chances to put Virtanen away. He held a pair of match points at 8-6, but was unable to complete either after attempting to force the issue by coming to the net both times. He had another match point at 9-8, but sent a forehand into the net following a lengthy rally.
Virtanen used a strong serve to set up his own match point and Shelton sent a forehand wide at 10-9 to seal the upset. The 25-year-old Virtanen already has equaled his best result in a Grand Slam event, having also reached the second round at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in 2024.
It was a massive disappointment for the 23-year-old Shelton, who entered Wimbledon as the highest-ranked American and tied for the fourth-shortest title odds in the men’s draw. The highest-seeded potential opponent in his quarter of the draw was Mensik, whom he wouldn’t have faced until the fourth round.
Shelton won the Boss Open earlier this month when he topped Fritz in the final. Fritz returned the favor by beating Shelton in the Wortmann Open quarterfinals during their final tuneup for Wimbledon.
Five seeded players in addition to Shelton were ushered out of the Wimbledon singles draw in the first round.
No. 18 Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina lost 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 to Spain’s Jaume Munar, No. 27 Ugo Humbert of France fell 6-2, 7-5, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3 to Belgium’s Zizou Bergs, No. 29 Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina lost 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (4) to Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego, No. 30 Alejandro Tabilo of Chile fell 6-3, 7-5, 7-5 to Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak and No. 32 Matteo Arnaldi of Italy suffered a 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3 defeat to France’s Quentin Halys.
–Field Level Media
