Shattered second seed Naomi Osaka was the highest seed to fall on a dramatic opening day at Wimbledon.
Following her out of the tournament were top-10 men’s seeds Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas, who bowed out on No.1 Court and No.2 Court within a short time of one another.
Osaka’s last match before arriving at the All England Club was a straight-sets loss to Yulia Putintseva in Birmingham, and it was the same story as the Kazakh sent her packing in a 7-6(4) 6-2 Centre Court upset.
A five-set thriller!
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
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 1, 2019
It was clear how disappointed second seed Osaka was by the loss, as she spoke barely louder than a whisper during her press conference when trying explain her performance and gave very brief answers.
The 21-year-old has not reached the final of any tournament since winning her second successive Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January and climbing to world No.1.
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Handling the extra attention and pressure has been a big challenge and, asked how she has picked herself up in the past, Osaka said: “The key for me was just having fun, I guess, kind of taking pressure off myself. I hope I can somehow find a way to do that.”
After contemplating answering the next question about how difficult it has been to adjust to her new level of fame, Osaka turned to the moderator and said: “Can I leave? I feel like I’m about to cry,” before walking out.
"I feel like I'm about to cry."
Naomi Osaka cut an emotional figure in her post-match press conference before she had to cut it short.
Today at #Wimbledon@BBCTwo
???? https://t.co/avSpk2uvJ0 pic.twitter.com/uOJqIk37jm— BBC Tennis (@bbctennis) July 1, 2019
Putintseva now holds a 3-0 record against Osaka, having never dropped a set against the Japanese star.
“I think I was able to keep my concentration up high all these three matches. I feel like whenever I am going down with Naomi in bad concentration, she’s straight doing so many winners. I was trying to make it as more uncomfortable for her as possible,” she said.
“To play on this amazing court, it’s a great experience. I really loved it out there.”
Two of the leading names from the next generation of men’s tennis also became shock casualties as Zverev And Tsitsipas fell in the first round.
Novak Djokovic’s potential path to the final looks even clearer after the young guns, both in the defending champion’s half of the draw, fired blanks on Monday.
Sixth seed Zverev went down in four sets to qualifier Jiri Vesely, the world No.124.
The 22-year-old slipped at a crucial moment hand Vesely two match points, and then netted the first as the Czech ace celebrated a surprise 4-6 6-3 6-2 7-5 triumph.
Zverev, who has endured a poor year so far, admitted his confidence has taken a battering and alluded to issues off the court.
“When I get to the important moments – and I had five or six break points in the fourth set alone – I can’t take any of those,” he said.
“I’m down one break point myself and he takes it immediately, where I miss an easy volley. I didn’t lose this match on tennis. It’s just my confidence is below zero right now.
“The last two days, I would say (were) very rough for me personally. I’m not going to get into details, but I’m just saying. I have to fix that to play well on the court.”
Around 20 minutes later Tsitsipas, having saved two match points in the fourth set, succumbed to the third as he was turfed out 6-4 3-6 6-4 6-7 (8-10) 6-3 by Italian Thomas Fabbiano.
Asked Tsitsipas what he needs to do right now and he said “maybe just stay here in this chair, get some positive energy from the media. Because I feel awful”.
— Vicky Georgatou (@VGeorgatou) July 1, 2019
“Last year his forehand was not the same,” said Tsitsipas, who beat Fabbiano in the third round last year.
“He improved a lot on his forehand. It’s very uncomfortable. You basically have to guess where he’s going to play.
“Last year was kind of easy, the easiest victory I had in Wimbledon. I played unbelievable in that match. Somehow, I didn’t manage to get even close to that level that I played last year. I just saw a more improved, more solid player than he was last year.”
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