No Ordinary Cup of Tea

Wimbledon Days 2 and 3

If you thought Nadal's loss to 135th ranked Darcis in the first round on Monday was shocking, wait 'til you hear this: no less than SIX top players in the gentlemen's and ladies' singles draws are out of the competition, some due to injury but a few (if you don't know, you'll never guess) due to shocking losses.

Among the ousted are:

Victoria Azarenka

 The Australian Open champ from Belarus screamed in pain on Monday when she fell awkwardly on the slippery grass but trudged on through the match towards a hard-earned victory. However, her withdrawal was announced shortly before her match against Flavia Pennetta of Italy today.

Maria Sharapova

Portuguese qualifier Michelle Larcher de Brito now has the privilege of reaching the third round of Wimbledon for the very first time after upsetting 3rd seed Maria Sharapova. The petite Portuguese fighter was all over Sharapova, preying on her less than perfect net approach and producing stunning passing shots that were a splendid surprise for the English crowd. Sharapova was becoming more and more flustered about the slippery grass conditions on court after a few falls here and there, one of which cost her a break. But her opponent Larcher de Brito would not let up and broke the Russian's serve several times on her way to serving out a straight sets victory on her fifth match point.

 For match highlights, click here.

Caroline Wozniacki

2-6, 2-6 was the final scoreline, one that will probably have Camp Wozniacki thinking long and hard about the young Dane's consistency on court. Petra Cetkovská is responsible for yet another upset at Wimbledon this year, beating in straight sets a former World No. 1 with relative ease. Cetkovská had the edge on Wozniacki in virtually every department, including 1st serve points won and break points converted. Caroline was only able to muster 6 winners and a 69% 1st serve percentage, whereas Cetkovská was brilliant at the net, winning 14 of 15 points there and converting four times out of eight on break opportunities. Wozniacki will want to end the drought of Grand Slam titles if she does not want to be remembered as the "no-hit wonder" of our time.

Roger Federer

Another multiple Grand Slam winner and personal favorite of the All-England Club, Roger Federer, is down and out after losing to Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine, ranked 116th in the world. A series of netted backhands on break points from Federer would give the twenty-seven-year-old the lead he needed to push Federer over the edge and into the loser's circle, Roger's worst performance at a major in ten years. Stakhovsky won most of the big points and kept the pressure on and precise to give the crowd yet another startle after Nadal's loss on Monday. 2 for 2 is the tally as far as the fallen of the Big Four are concerned. Is there more astonishment left in the bag for us or is a Murray-Djokovic final around the corner?

Federer waves goodbye at Wimbledon 2013

Jo-Wilfriend Tsonga

This is not the way Frenchman Jo-Willy Tsonga wanted to imitate the form of Spanish conqueror Rafa Nadal, I can safely assume. But both men have now lost their bids to be crowned Wimbledon 2013 champ thanks to bothersome left knees. The odds of Tsonga actually taking the title weren't very high in our minds to begin with, but now that he's given Latvian Ernests Gulbis a free pass into the third round, we must begin to wonder which country - or even continent - has a Grand Slam that the twenty-eight-year-old can win. He was well on his way, after defeating Federer in straights, to claiming the home crown at Roland Garros (and his first major title) less than three weeks ago but it was Rafa who took home the title for a record eighth time. Now, both France and Spain have lost their top players and the path looks clear as day for Djokovic to lift the trophy for the second time. Oh well, maybe next year Jo....

John Isner

Towering over most of the other contenders on tour at 6'9", American John Isner came into All-England Club this year among the few players with warm-up tourney titles under their belts. Isner had impressively won the Campbell's Hall of Fame Championships in Newport, Rhode Island just a few days ago by beating Aussie legend Lleyton Hewitt. High hopes are what he had to reach further in the rounds this year on the grass courts at Wimbledon, but after an injury timeout, he was forced to retire in his second round match versus Adrian Mannarino of France. Now America's last hope probably rests on the racket of 16-time major winner Serena Williams. Now, that's not so much of a wild dream, is it...

Steve Darcis

We said the gods of fortune wouldn't favor Steve Darcis - the man who beat Nadal on Monday - for too long. Darcis, the Belgian who seems to have instigated this upset domino effect, did not even step on court today for his second round match against Kubot of Poland, but withdrew with right shoulder pain after revealing to the press that a dive during his match against Nadal left him unable to move his arm after the adrenaline had worn off. So sorrow follows joy, but Darcis should be back next year for more; this isn't the first time he's had to deal with shoulder injuries and Ye Olde English Club could use a jaw-dropper of a match like that next year.

Also out, says tennis.com: "10th-seeded Marin Cilic (walkover, left knee); 2006 quarterfinalist Radek Stepanek (retirement, left hamstring); and Yaroslava Shvedova (walkover, right arm)."

The plot does grow thicker as the doubts shrink thinner for Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams. If the misfortune plaguing their best rivals does not touch them, they're almost guaranteed the singles titles. But, as we very well know.....it's too soon to say.

Top contenders left in the draw at Wimbledon 2013

For more information, stay here!

Breathe tennis!!