6 shocking results from Wimbledon 2024 Day 4 ft. Jessica Pegula and Stefanos Tsitsipas' maiden Grand Slam bid coming to heartbreaking end
Jessica Pegula and Stefanos Tsitsipas exited the Wimbledon Championships on Day 4, ending their campaigns for a maiden Major title. The duo lost to unseeded opponents in the second round of the tournament.
Serbian legend and No. 2 seed Novak Djokovic, women's top seed Iga Swiatek, last year's runners-up Ons Jabeur, and 2022 champion Elena Rybakina were all in action on July 4 and emerged victorious in their second-round contests. Other big winners of the day were Holger Rune, Taylor Fritz, Danielle Collins, and Jelena Ostapenko.
But not all high-profile stars were in the victor's column. With that said, let's take a look at the six most shocking results from Day 4 of the 2024 Wimbledon Championships:
#6 Leylah Fernandez
Canadian star Leylah Fernandez came to London in superb form after reaching her maiden grasscourt final at the Rothesay International in Eastbourne. She was seeded No. 30 at SW19 and bettered Lucia Bronzetti in straight sets in the first round. Fernandez made a nervy start to her second-round match after dropping the first set against former Grand Slam champion Caroline Wozniacki.
The Canadian staged a comeback in the second set by breaking Wozniacki thrice to force a deciding set. Fernandez was on the verge of winning the match and had two match points at 5-5 but failed to convert either of them. Wozniacki broke her young opponent in the next game and finished the game on her serve 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 after two hours and 19 minutes of action.
#5 Jack Draper
Jack Draper rose to become Britain's highest-ranked male player during the grass swing after winning his maiden tour title at the Stuttgart Open and reaching the quarterfinals at the cinch Championships, where he defeated Carlos Alcaraz. He set high expectations for the Wimbledon Championships with his excellent run prior to it. Seeded No. 28, Draper was given the run for his money in the first round as he needed five sets to push out Swedish qualifier Elias Ymer.
This set up an all-Brit-clash between Draper and Cameron Norrie, who had not won a grass court match in 2024 heading to Wimbledon. But the British No. 2 managed to find his form against Draper. The 28-year-old swept aside Draper with efficient net play in the first set tiebreaker and held on to his break advantage to take the second set. Draper had an opportunity to half the deficit but failed to serve out the third set. Norrie pounced on his failure and closed out the match in the tiebreaker 7-6 (3), 6-4, 7-6 (6).
#4 Katie Boulter
Katie Boulter had yet another remarkable grasscourt swing, with a successful title defense at the WTA 125 Rothesay Open in Nottingham and a quarterfinal finish at Rothesay International in Eastbourne. However, it all came to an end at the Wimbledon Championships, when the British No. 1 was knocked out in the second round by the British No. 2 Harriet Dart.
Boulter kicked off her Wimbledon campaign with a gritty win against former semifinalist and German veteran Tatjana Maria. She continued her form for the highly-anticipated British battle by breaking Dart once and taking the first set. Dart fought back valiantly to break Boulter thrice in the second set to level the score. The deciding set went into a tiebreaker, and Dart emerged victorious 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (8) after converting the first match point.
Katie Boulter was the poorer performer of the two. Both women made a combined 110 unforced errors, with Boulter accounting for 75 of those.
#3 Hubert Hurkacz
Hubert Hurkacz's Wimbledon campaign came to an unfortunate end as the Pole was forced to retire during his second-round contest. Hurkacz was in good touch on grass before entering Wimbledon as he finished runners-up at the Terra Wortmann Open in Halle. Seeded seventh at SW19, Hurkacz overcame Moldovan qualifier Radu Albot in four sets in the first round to face talented French youngster Arthur Fils in the second.
The duo played an entertaining match, with Fils taking the first set via a tiebreaker and Hurakcz restoring parity in the second set, courtesy of two breaks of the Frechmen's serve. Fils regained his lead by winning the third set and was on the cusp of victory in the fourth set. At 7-7 in the fourth set tiebreaker, Hurkacz badly injured his knee while diving full length for a volley at the net.
He grabbed the back of his right leg and hobbled to his chair to receive medical attention. However, the damage was too severe for the Pole to continue, and he retired two points later, handing Fils 7-6(2), 6-4, 2-6, 6-6 (9/8) ret. victory.
#2 Stefanos Tsitsipas
Stefanos Tsitsipas has concluded yet another grasscourt swing without a title in his hands. The Greek was ousted in the second round at the Terra Wortmann Open in Halle and suffered the same fate at the Wimbledon Championships. Tsitsipas was seeded No. 11 in London and defending fourth-round points from last year, his best performance at the tournament.
He faced little resistance while ousting Taro Daniel in the first round in straight sets. This set up a clash against Finnish No. 1 Emil Ruusuvuori in the second round. The first two sets were hotly contested, with both dropping one game each. However, it was Ruusuvuori who maintained a calm head and eked out his rival in the tiebreakers to take a mammoth lead.
Tsitsipas managed to half the deficit in the third set with a break of Ruusuvuori's serve, but he could not deny the Finn his hard-earned victory. Ruusuvuori closed out the match in the fourth set with a solitary break of Tsitsipas's serve and booked his spot in his maiden third round at Wimbledon 7-6 (6), 7-6 (10), 3-6, 6-3.
#1 Jessica Pegula
Jessica Pegula made a fantastic comeback from injury, which kept her out of the European clay court season, winning the WTA 500 ecotrans Ladies Open in Berlin. This was the American's first title of the season and her maiden grass court accolade. She carried forward that form at the Wimbledon Championships, where she was seeded fifth, and dispatched compatriot Ashlyn Krueger with ease 6-2, 6-0.
Jessica Pegula faced Wang Xinyu, who needed three sets to defeat Viktoriya Tomova in her opening match, in the second round. The Chinese player looked more than up to the job as she broke Pegula midway through the first set and maintained her lead to go ahead in the contest. Breaks were plenty in the second set, with both women sharing three a piece.
But Jessica Pegula utilized all parts of the court to outmaneuver her opponent with an extensive tiebreaker. Xinyu did not waste any time dismantling Pegula in the third set as she raced to a 5-0 lead and closed out the match two games later, 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-1.
This was Wang Xinyu's first top-10 win. As for Jessica Pegula, who reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon last year, this was another untimely and disappointing end to her maiden Grand Slam quest.