Shelton stunned in Wimbledon first round
World No. 5 Ben Shelton, seeded fourth, suffered a surprising first-round defeat at Wimbledon on Tuesday, losing to Finnish qualifier Otto Virtanen, ranked 140th.
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An unexpected upset marked the first round of Wimbledon on Tuesday as fourth seed Ben Shelton of the United States fell to qualifier Otto Virtanen of Finland. Shelton, ranked fifth in the world, lost 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (10:8), 2-6, 6-7 (9:11) to Virtanen, who is currently 140th in the ATP rankings.
Shelton described the loss as one of the toughest of his career. Last year, he reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon.
Other top seeds advanced smoothly in their opening matches. Second seed Alexander Zverev of Germany (ATP 2) defeated Belgium's Alexander Blockx (ATP 36) 6-4, 6-7 (8:10), 7-6 (7:5), 7-6 (7:0). Fifth seed Alex de Minaur of Australia (ATP 6) cruised past Argentina's Roman Buruchaga (ATP 65) 7-6 (7:5), 6-1, 6-0.
Also progressing to the second round were sixth seed Taylor Fritz of the United States (ATP 7), 10th seed Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan (ATP 11), 13th seed Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic (ATP 14), and 15th seed Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic (ATP 18).
The Wimbledon Championships on grass courts will run until July 12. Last year's men's singles champion, world No. 1 Jannik Sinner of Italy, defeated Carlos Alcaraz in the final.
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