Wimbledon 2023: 3 biggest upsets on Day 1, ft. Coco Gauff
Men's defending champion Novak Djokovic and women's top seed Iga Swiatek comfortably reached the last 64 of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships, with neither facing too big of a challenge in their first-round matches.
While most seeds came through unscathed on the opening day of the grasscourt Major, a few, such as Coco Gauff, saw their campaigns get cut short by some inspired opponents.
Let's take a look at the three biggest upsets from Day 1 of this year's championships:
Ana Bogdan def. Liudmila Samsonova
Ana Bogdan has lost some tight three-setters at Grand Slams in recent years. Those who watched her go down against Paula Badosa and Victoria Azarenka in Paris in 2021 and 2022, respectively, would have watched the second set of the Romanian's encounter against Liudmila Samsonova on July 3 with bated breath.
Matching her big-hitting opponent's powerful groundstrokes and at times, outhitting her off the backhand side, Bogdan eked out a tight opening set, winning it in a tiebreaker. Things, however, looked ominous for the 30-year-old after she failed to serve out the match at 5-4 in the second set.
With nothing left to lose, 15th seed Samsonova decided to go all guns blazing. The same strategy helped her surge to a WTA 500 title (the German Open) on the grass a couple of years ago. Bogdan, however, stepped up to the task and fended off some heavy ball-striking from Samsonova in the second set tiebreaker to close out the match 7-6(1), 7-6(4).
Sofia Kenin def. Coco Gauff
The topsy-turvy first-round encounter between Sofia Kenin and Coco Gauff was decided on Kenin's racket, as she was the player who took more risks and was thus rewarded with her first Grand Slam match win since Wimbledon 2021. She eventually found a way to move past her stealthy countrywoman 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. Even Gauff's 12 aces could not come to her rescue on Monday, July 3.
Michael Mmoh def. Felix Auger-Aliassime for first
Wimbledon win
Felix Auger-Aliassime's first match back on the court since the 2023 French Open hardly went according to plan. While the Canadian managed to hold strong against an inspired Michael Mmoh for a couple of sets and a little over, he eventually faced his second consecutive Grand Slam first-round exit.
His opponent, meanwhile, played all the cards right. Never in the match did Mmoh come across as rattled. He kept going about his business — being solid on serve, hitting an impressive 71% first serves, and winning an incredible 80% points behind it. And when the opportunities came, he pounced on them without fail.
His performance in the tiebreaker during the first and third sets, as well as his overall breakpoint conversion rate, was commendable. For someone who had never won a match at Wimbledon, Mmoh looked relatively well-prepared when closing out the match. He won 7-6(4), 6-7(4), 7-6(4), 6-4.