THERE were no shortage of upsets in the men’s draw of Wimbledon on day one, but few were more eyebrow raising than powerful American, Frances Tiafoe‘s stunning straight sets upset of third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas. The Greek star was seen as one of world number one Novak Djokovic‘s biggest threats – if not the biggest threat – but the world number four is now out of the grass court Grand Slam at the first chance.

Winning 6-4 6-4 6-3, Tiafoe took two hours and two minutes to stun the third seed, given just a 19 per cent chance to win by the IBM Power Rankings. The American proved the stats wrong as he hit eight more winners (43-35) whilst not conceding any more unforced errors (22-22), and saved all seven break points. In turn, he broke his opponent four times, weathering the 15 aces Tsitsipas put down. Tiafoe also won 67 per cent of his second serve points.

“These are matches I actually love,” Tiafoe said post-match. “I play great tennis against high-calibre players. “I’ve beaten high-calibre players. “The minimum I want to do is at least give myself a chance to win. “I did.

“I woke up this morning like, ‘Yeah, I’m beating Stefanos.’ “It happened. “I think believing it when nobody else does is so big.”

It was a little simpler for Djokovic, taking the same amount of time – two hours – to defeat teenage Brit Jack Draper. Talking about IBM Power Ranking percentages, Draper was given a one per cent chance of winning, but that did not stop the world 253 stunning the top seed on Centre Court, taking out the first set 6-4. As if spurred into action, Djokovic went to a gear few have, and blew the youngster off the court, 6-1 6-2 6-2 in the final three sets to secure the win. The Serbian served 25 aces for only one double fault, broke six times to one and only dropped 14 points on his serve for the entire match.

“He definitely deserves a round of applause,” Djokovic said post-match. “He’s a youngster, only 19. “[I] hadn’t seen him play too much prior to the Queen’s tournament, [where] he played pretty well and won a couple of matches against higher-ranked players. “Walking onto Wimbledon’s Centre Court for him for the first time, I think he has done extremely well. “He carried himself very maturely on the court. I think he behaved well, he backed himself, he believed that he could come back, and he deserves credit for that. “I wish him all the best for the rest of his career.”

The other big result was local hope Andy Murray returning to the singles action on Centre Court, battling hard to overcome 24th seed Georgian, Nikoloz Basilashvili. The Brit veteran and two-time Wimbledon champion won 6-4 6-3 5-7 6-3 to book his spot in the second round. It was his first Wimbledon singles appearance since 2017, and only his sixth ATP Tour match this season. He was one of two Brits to advance to the second round thus far, joining Liam Broady – who ousted Italian Marco Cecchinato – in the Round of 64.

From the other seeded games, fifth seed Andrey Rublev, his compatriot 25th seed Karen Khachanov, and eighth seed Roberto Bautista Agut all advanced in four sets, whilst the news was not as promising for young gun Jannik Sinner. The 19th seed bowed out after winning the first set, but losing the next three, to Hungarian Marton Fucsovics. He was one of another two seeds to exit the tournament on opening day, with 27th seed Reilly Opelka losing in straight sets to German Dominik Koepfer, and 30th seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina bowing out at the hands of American qualifier Denis Kudla.

In other results, Kevin Anderson, Vasek Pospisil, Andreas Seppi and Jiri Vesely all won their first round matches, in a throwback to a past era for the veterans. Also making it through were Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic, and Spaniard Pedro Martinez, both getting up to lock in a second round spot.

WIMBLEDON ROUND OF 128 RESULTS:

[1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) defeated [WC] Jack Draper (GBR) 4-6 6-1 6-2 6-2
Frances Tiafoe (USA) defeated [3] Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) 6-4 6-4 6-3
[5] Andrey Rublev (RUS) defeated Federico Delbonis (ARG) 4-6 6-4 6-1 6-2
[8] Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) defeated John Millman (AUS) 6-2 3-6 6-3 7-6
Marton Fucsovics (HUN) defeated [19] Jannik Sinner (ITA) 5-7 6-3 7-5 6-3
[WC] Andy Murray (GBR) defeated [24] Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO) 6-4 6-3 5-7 6-3
[25] Karen Khachanov (RUS) defeated [Q] Mackenzie McDonald (USA) 3-6 6-3 5-7 6-3
Dominik Koepfer (GER) defeated [27] Reilly Opelka (USA) 6-4 7-6 6-2
[Q] Denis Kudla (USA) defeated [30] Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (ESP) 5-7 4-6 7-6 6-3 6-3
Kevin Anderson (RSA) defeated [Q] Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera (CHI) 6-7 6-4 6-4 7-6
[WC] Liam Broady (GBR) defeated Marco Cecchinato (ITA) 6-3 6-4 6-0
Miomir Kecmanovic (SRB) defeated Facundo Bagnis (ARG) 6-3 6-4 6-0
Pedro Martinez (ESP) defeated Stefano Travaglia (ITA) 6-3 2-6 6-4 6-4
Vasek Pospisil (CAN) defeated Roberto Carballes Baena (ESP) 6-3 6-3 6-3
Andreas Seppi (ITA) defeated Joao Sousa (POR) 4-6 6-4 7-5 6-2
Jiri Vesely (CZE) defeated Yannick Hanfmann (GER) 6-1 7-5 7-6

Picture credit: ATP Tour