Three of the world's most promising tennis players crashed out at All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club on Monday as Naomi Osaka, Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas all lost their first-round singles matches at Wimbledon.
Osaka's bid to win a third grand slam title came to a premature end when she lost to Kazakh Yulia Putintseva, 7-6, 6-2 in the first round.
The 21-year-old Japanese said she had felt a weight lifted from her after losing her No 1 world ranking to Ashleigh Barty last month, but it did not show against a talented opponent on Centre Court.
Indeed, Putintseva simply franked the form from the recent Birmingham tournament where she had beaten the US Open and Australian Open champion in the second round.
Russia-born Putintseva had never been on Centre Court before, and she conceded being taken aback by its circular shape, although she was far from overawed in the manner she played.
"I did a good job out there and I was fighting great," the 24-year-old said. "It is amazing."
"The biggest win of her career" 👏@PutintsevaYulia upsets world No.2 Naomi Osaka 7-6(4), 6-2 on Centre Court to book her second round spot #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/PQQYpFsQqu
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 1, 2019
Another upset!
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 1, 2019
World No.108 @jiri_vesely sends home No.6 seed Alexander Zverev in the first round after coming back from a set down to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/Qqq4pp8bHJ
A five-set thriller!
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 1, 2019
After three hours and 22 minutes, Thomas Fabbiano beats No.7 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas on a day of shocks at #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/5BaHsiYG57
Putintseva said she was getting more accustomed to grass, although, she still feels clay is her best surface, and added having a good record against Osaka counted for nothing when they walked out onto Centre Court.
"Honestly every match is a battle I don't know what is going to happen," she said after her third win in three against the Japanese.
"I do my best, that is all I can do."
Sixth seed Zverev lost 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 to Czech qualifier Jiri Vesely. The German, long tipped as a future grand slam champion, again flattered to deceive as he was outplayed by the world No 108.
Vesely goes on to play either Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay, who beat Bosnia's Damir Dzumhur 4-6, 7-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, for a place in the last 32.
Tsitsipas, the 20-year-old world No 6 who famously beat Roger Federer at the Australian Open this year, was beaten by Thomas Fabbiano - a man 10 years older. The Greek rising star lost 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 6-7, 6-3.
Earlier, defending champion Novak Djokovic got his campaign for a fifth singles title off to a winning start, seeing off Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-3, 7-5, 6-3.
Top seed and world No 1 Djokovic had to recover from early breaks in both of the first two sets as well as a nasty fall on the Centre Court grass.
Djokovic, chasing a 16th career major, will face Denis Kudla of the United States for a place in the last 32.
If his victory was routine, there was nothing predictable about the Serb's surprise decision to bring Ivanisevic into his inner sanctum over the weekend.
Djokovic said that he and Ivanisevic have been long-time friends.
"I have always looked up to Goran," Djokovic said. "When he won here in 2001, I feel I was part of that as he had trained in Germany at the same base as me when I was 13-14.
"I feel as if I contributed to his victory," he joked.
Third seed Karolina Pliskova made it through to the second round at Wimbledon, beating China's Zhu Lin 6-2, 7-6 on Monday.
Czech former world No 1 Pliskova, fresh from winning the Eastbourne grass-court tournament, beat the world No 101 on the 4,000-seater Court 2.
She will face Olympic champion Monica Puig of Puerto Rico, who beat Slovakia's Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 5-7, 6-4, 7-5, for a place in the last 32.
