Wimbledon: Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech knocks out world number 3 Alexander Zverev in the first round

A devastating setback for the three-time Grand Slam finalist. World number 3 Alexander Zverev was eliminated in the first round of Wimbledon on Tuesday, July 1st, by Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech (72nd), defeating his second top 10 member in just a few weeks.

At the end of a match that began on Monday evening but was interrupted after two sets due to the 11 p.m. curfew in force at 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 opponent, who is a year his senior.

Winner in 4 hours 40 minutes, Rinderknech will face the Chilean Cristian Garín (110th) in the next round, who won in three sets against the Luxembourger Chris Rodesch on Monday.

"My legs are still shaking, I only slept six hours last night," the emotional winner reacted in his post-match interview. "This sport is tough, but what a great moment! It's my first victory against a top 5 player, on the most beautiful court in the world," the Frenchman reveled.

A finalist at the ATP 250 in Stuttgart and a semi-finalist at the ATP 500 in Halle in June, Zverev had not lost in the first round of a Grand Slam since Wimbledon in 2019. He reached the final of the Australian Open in January, before being beaten in the quarter-finals of Roland-Garros by Novak Djokovic.

Although Wimbledon is the only one of the four Grand Slam tournaments where Zverev has not reached the final, the Hamburg native has reached the round of 16 three times.

Rinderknech, for his part, reached the second round in 2024, his best result to date. Coached since the start of the grass-court season by former world number 10 Lucas Pouille, the Frenchman claimed his first victory in June on the London grass of Queen's, against a member of the top 10, the American Ben Shelton (10th).

He then made life difficult for world number 2 Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals, this time failing to win against the future winner of the tournament, two-time defending champion at Wimbledon.

Zverev is the fourth member of the top 10 to be eliminated in the first round of Wimbledon, following the elimination on Monday of Denmark's Holger Rune (8th) and Russia's Daniil Medvedev (9th), and on Tuesday of Italy's Lorenzo Musetti (7th).