Rafael Nadal. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)
LONDON – Rafael Nadal’s stunning Wimbledon second round defeat to world number 100 Lukas Rosol will rank as probably the biggest shock in Wimbledon history.
Here AFP Sports looks at four other results which shocked the All England Club:
1987
Peter Doohan v Boris Becker
Becker was the double champion having triumphed in 1985, when he was the youngest champion at the age of 17, and again in 1986. However, the following year, he met unseeded Australian Peter Doohan who played the match of his life to win 7-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. Doohan became known as ‘The Becker Wrecker’. Becker’s response: “I lost a tennis match. Nobody died.”
1999
Jelena Dokic v Martina Hingis
Top seed Hingis was stunned by 16-year-old qualifier Jelena Dokic – then ranked 129 in the world – who won in straight sets 6-2, 6-0. It was Hingis’s first match since her collapse at the French Open final and only the third time the top-seeded woman was eliminated in the first round at Wimbledon — the others were Margaret Smith in 1962 and Steffi Graf in 1994.
2002
George Bastl v Pete Sampras
Swiss journeyman Bastl, ranked 145 in the world, defeated seven-time champion Pete Sampras, 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 3-6, 6-4. Bastl had only been in the main draw as a lucky loser, having lost to Alexander Waske in qualifying. The match took place on the now-demolished Court Two which was famed as the ‘Graveyard of Champions’.
2003
Lleyton Hewitt v Ivo Karlovic
Karlovic may have exited this year’s Wimbledon in a storm of controversy after claiming line judges were biased in favour of home hope Andy Murray, but in 2003 he was the sensation of Centre Court. The big-serving Croat, making his Grand Slam debut, defeated the defending champion in the first round, 1-6, 7-6, 6-3, 6-4.