ATP Tour

Zverev, Gauff among record Wimbledon seeds exodus

This year's Wimbledon has featured a staggering wave of early exits from seeded players.

On the men’s side, 13 seeded players have fallen in the opening round, breaking the tournament record and tying the 2004 Australian Open for most at a Grand Slam tournament. The previous Wimbledon record for most seeds to lose in the men's singles first round was 11 (2001, 2003, 2018 and 2021).

Third seed Alexander Zverev was the highest-seeded player to fall in the opening round. The German lost on Tuesday in five sets to heavy-hitting Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech, who did not drop serve for the entirety of the match to secure his biggest career win by PIF ATP Ranking.

Seventh seed Lorenzo Musetti also lost on Tuesday, falling in four sets to Nikoloz Basilashvili. Eighth seed Holger Rune and ninth seed Daniil Medvedev, who both lost on Monday, were among the Top 10 seeds to suffer an early exit.

Rounding out the seeded players who lost were 16th seed Francisco Cerundolo, 18th seed Ugo Humbert, 20th seed Alexei Popyrin, 24th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, 27th seed Denis Shapovalov, 28th seed Alexander Bublik, 30th seed Alex Michelsen, 31st seed Tallon Griekspoor and 32nd seed Matteo Berrettini, who reached the final of the grass-court major in 2021.

The carnage has also spilled over into the women’s draw. Americans Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula, seeded second and third respectively, were upset. It marks the first time in the Open Era that two of the top three women's seeds are out in the first round. Gauff won Roland Garros this year while Pegula arrived at the All England Club following a title run on the grass of Bad Homburg.