:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/liberation/BOKK3PJULNDBJEBOK34CZQXEYU.jpg "Rinderknech Upsets Zverev in First Round")
Sacred backhand for the Triple Finalist in Grand Slam. The world number 3 Alexander Zverev was eliminated this Tuesday, July 1, from the first round of Wimbledon by the Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech (72nd), a fall of his second member of the Top 10 in a few weeks.
At the end of a match started on Monday evening but interrupted after two sets by the 23-hour curfew in force in Wimbledon, the 28-year-old German was dominated 7-6 (7/3), 6-7 (8/10), 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-4 by his elder-year-old opponent.
Winner in 4:40 am, Rinderknech will be measured in the next round at Chilean Cristian Garín (110th), winner Monday in three sets of Luxembourg Chris Rodesch.
“My legs are still trembling, I only slept six hours last night,” reacted the winner, moved, in his post-match interview. “This sport is tough, but what a good time!” This is my first victory against a top 5, on the most beautiful short in the world ”, French was reheeded.
ATP 250 finalist from Stuttgart and semi-finalist of Halle ATP 500 in June, Zverev had not lost in the first round of a Grand Chelem since the 2019 edition of Wimbledon. He had reached the Australian Open final in January, before being beaten in the quarterfinals of Roland-Garros by Novak Djokovic.
If Wimbledon is the only one of the four Grand Chelem tournaments of which Zverev did not reach the final, the Hamburgeois still hoisted three times in the round of 16.
Rinderknech for his part reached the second round in 2024, his best result to date. Trained since the start of the Gazon season by former world number 10 Lucas Pouille, the Frenchman won in June on the London lawn of the Queen’s his first success against a member of the Top 10, the American Ben Shelton (10th).
He then led life hard at the world number 2 Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter -final, without this time to win against the future winner of the tournament, double title in Wimbledon.
Zverev is the fourth member of the top 10 to take the door in the first round of Wimbledon, after the elimination Monday of the Danish Holger Rune (8th) and the Russian Daniil Medvedev (9th), and Tuesday of the Italian Lorenzo Musetti (7th).
