Shelton Stunned by Virtanen in First-Round Epic
Ben Shelton, the No. 4 seed and a quarter-finalist at Wimbledon last year, was knocked out in the first round by world No. 140 Otto Virtanen of Finland. The match ended 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (8), 6-2, 7-6 (9) after a gripping five-set battle lasting over four hours. Shelton led two sets to one and had a match point at 9-8 in the final tie-break, but a forehand error cost him the match. Virtanen, playing only his second Wimbledon, sealed the victory two points later.
Shelton, who won his first grass-court title in Stuttgart in June, had high expectations coming into the tournament. He reached the quarter-finals at the Australian Open earlier this year but struggled on Tuesday. "Tough loss," Shelton said. "One of the toughest losses I’ve taken, for sure. I got to give a lot of credit to the guy I played, Otto. I thought he played an outstanding match."
Fritz Eases Past Lajovic in Straight Sets
Taylor Fritz, the No. 6 seed and the only American man to have reached a grand slam final (2024 US Open), had a far smoother path. He defeated Dusan Lajovic of Serbia 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 in just one hour and 41 minutes. Fritz broke Lajovic's serve four times and faced no break points himself. His performance was clinical, with 32 winners and only 12 unforced errors.
Fritz also made headlines for his attire, walking onto court in a bespoke all-white Boss suit over his tennis kit. "I feel like it was an uphill battle all day today. I was pretty off on my serve spot, so I wasn’t getting many free points. I was having to grind through a lot of the games," Fritz said. He joked about the suit: "You show up in a full outfit and get snipped in the first round, you look really stupid, honestly."
De Minaur and Cerúndolo: Mixed Results
Alex de Minaur, the fifth seed, overcame a scrappy first set to beat Román Andrés Burruchaga 7-6 (5), 6-1, 6-0. De Minaur improved after the first set, winning 12 of the next 14 games. "I think the way I played that first set, I need to be a lot more relaxed and not get as frustrated when maybe I’m not playing my best level," he said. "I managed to sneak through that first set, then kind of free up and play confident tennis."
Queen's Club champion Francisco Cerúndolo was eliminated in straight sets by Jaume Munar. The Argentine, who won the pre-Wimbledon grass-court event, lost 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. Cerúndolo struggled with his first-serve percentage and was broken five times in the match.
