LONDON — Russian sixth-seed Andrey Rublev crashed out of Wimbledon in the first round on Tuesday, losing 6-4 5-7 6-2 7-6(5) to world No.122 Francisco Comesana of Argentina, playing his first match at a Grand Slam.
Mr. Rublev, who last year reached the quarterfinal at Wimbledon, where he was defeated by Novak Djokovic, frequently lost his temper, screamed out loud, and ranted at his courtside coaching team.
At one point in the third set the 26-year-old, who also had a meltdown at the French Open in May, smashed his racket repeatedly over his knee, leaving it bloody and bruised for the rest of the match.
Indeed, Comesana thoroughly belied his lack of experience — contesting only his second grass court match at any level, professional or junior — and played with poise and control from the start.
The 23-year-old broke Mr. Rublev for a 3-2 lead in the first set and then held to win it, much to the frustration of Mr. Rublev.
Mr. Rublev broke back early in the second and began to assert himself, frequently wrong-footing Mr. Comesana or drawing him into long rallies and overpowering him with powerful forehand shots.
Mr. Comesana fought his way back from three set points down twice in the second set before losing it. But the Argentinian, who fired down 21 aces in all, powered through the rain-interrupted third set and narrowly outdid Mr. Rublev for guile and accuracy in the fourth before drawing an unforced error from the Russian to finish the match in style.
SWIATEK DOWNS KENIN
Only once in her 21 previous Grand Slam appearances had Iga Swiatek perished in the first round — at Wimbledon in 2019.
When this year’s All England Club draw pitted her against fellow Grand Slam champion Sofia Kenin, there were fears that Ms. Swiatek could be in for another short, and not very sweet, stay at the grasscourt major.
After all, the Polish top seed has yet to find her comfort zone on grass, having never reached a final on the sport’s slickest surface, and she was also up against a rival who had toppled crowd favorite Coco Gauff in the opening round just 12 months ago.
Despite some jittery service games early on, with the first four games featuring nine break points and both players dropping serve, it took Ms. Swiatek just 79 minutes to safely negotiate past the potential first-round banana skin and demolish Ms. Kenin 6-3 6-4 on Tuesday under a closed Court One roof.
She dealt with being break point down in the opening game by firing down an unreturnable serve.
She remained unfazed when she squandered four break point chances in the very next game by converting the fifth with a thunderbolt backhand winner.
She took it in her stride when she was broken in the next game by immediately breaking Ms. Kenin again, this time to love for a 3-1 lead. — Reuters
