In a stunning turn of events at Wimbledon, two top-ten seeds, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Hubert Hurkacz, were eliminated in the second round on a day filled with shocking upsets.
Finnish world number 88, Emil Ruusuvuori, pulled off the upset of the tournament so far, defeating 11th seed and two-time Grand Slam finalist Tsitsipas in a thrilling four-set encounter, 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (12-10) 3-6 6-3. This victory marks Ruusuvuori’s first ever win against a top 20 player and his maiden entry into the third round at Wimbledon.
Adding to the drama, seventh seed Hurkacz was forced to retire due to injury while trailing French youngster Arthur Fils in a tense fourth set tie-break. Leading 8-7, Hurkacz’s injury dashed his Wimbledon hopes, paving the way for Fils to become the youngest player since Nick Kyrgios in 2014 to defeat a top-10 opponent at Wimbledon.
The upsets didn’t end there. 20-year-old Fils’s victory, secured with a final scoreline of 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 2-6 6-6 (9-8), sets up a third-round clash against Russian Roman Safiullin. Safiullin himself enjoyed a successful day, overcoming Czech player Tomas Machac in four sets.
Day four also witnessed the downfall of other seeded players. Karen Khachanov, a former quarter-finalist, was ousted by French qualifier Quentin Halys in a grueling five-setter. Similarly, 30th seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry fell to Australian Alexei Popyrin in another five-set thriller.
These unexpected results follow the earlier exit of sixth seed Andrey Rublev in the first round, making him the highest-ranked casualty in the men’s singles draw.