Wimbledon 2015: Surprising moments from week one

Week one at Wimbledon came to a dramatic close with 18th-seeded Gael Monfils and 12th-seeded Gilles Simon battling out the fifth set under the roof on Centre Court. As always, the first week of the oldest Grand Slam consisted of some unexpected twists and turns.

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Here’s a look at the most surprising moments from week one at Wimbledon, in no particular order.

Jelena Jankovic (28) d. Petra Kvitova (2) 3-6, 7-5, 6-4

The former world No. 1 shocked everyone Saturday with a come-from-behind win over current world No. 2 and defending Wimbledon Champion, Kvitova.

While Jankovic – with her new hairstyle– had battled through two, three-set matches in her earlier rounds, Kvitova had been absolutely cruising. She’d only dropped three games and spent under an hour and a half on court.

Kvitova couldn’t have been in a better position to steamroll through Jankovic for the third time this year and she looked well on her way aw she powered to a 4-2 lead in the second after taking the first set decidedly. Then suddenly, there was a dramatic shift of momentum as the Serbian began to find her range as Kvitova helplessly scrambled around the court.

Ultimately, Jankovic proved to be the steadier player during this strange match. Although Kvitova hit 24 winners (you couldn’t miss her shrieks) she also whacked 21 unforced errors, while the 30-year-old Serbian contained hers to 11.

After first round exits this year at the Australian and French Open and her recent history of struggling at Wimbledon, it’s encouraging to see Jankovic channel some of the resilience and fight that brought her to the top of the rankings years ago.

Next up, Jankovic meets 13th-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska for their first meeting on grass. A resurgent Radwanska leads the pair’s head-to-head 5-2.

Qualifier Dustin Brown defeats Rafael Nadal … Again

While Nadal was enjoying the mounting fame from his first Grand Slam titles in the mid-2000s, Brown was driving a Volkswagen camper van around Europe to earn a living while playing Futures.

Just a mere year ago, the 31-year-old stunned Nadal at Halle in straight sets with his effective serve-and-volley and massive returns. And after battling his way through three rounds of qualifying, the Hannover, Germany native was set to clash with the King of Clay once again.

Jul 4, 2015; London, United Kingdom; Dustin Brown (GER) in action during his match against Viktor Troicki (SRB) on day six of The Championships Wimbledon at the AELTC. Mandatory Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports

Brown’s chaotic but brilliant (sort of Monfils-esque) shot-making had 10th-seeded Nadal looking rather frazzled as he scrambled around the court. In the first set, the German hit an impressive 20 winners, twice the amount of Nadal, as he won the first set 7-5.

After dropping an erratic second set, Brown settled in for the next two sets, hitting 39 winners to only 11 unforced errors. He rarely let Nadal dictate a point as he drew the Spaniard into the net with drop-shots and slices, forcing him to either hit a big winner or cough up the error. It was strange to watch Nadal be toyed with, as Brown outplayed him time and time again at the net with his expert touch.

After hitting his 13th ace to finish the match, Brown added to Nadal’s Wimbledon woes, becoming the fourth player ranked outside the top 100 to defeat Nadal at the summer slam in four years.

Unfortunately, the Nadal curse continued as Brown lost in four sets to 22nd-seeded Victor Troicki.

Women’s top seeds continue to be unpredictable.

I already singled out Kvitova’s disastrous loss to Jankovic, but the rest of the field needs to be discussed too.

In 2015, the WTA – minus Serena Williams – has been a complete rollercoaster ride that leaves me crying and smiling all at once.

Sometimes the top 10 plays like they are the best players in the world and sometimes they play some downright uninspired tennis that leaves them baffled by players ranked much lower than them.

After a stunning start to 2015, Halep has become weirdly inconsistent. Before the clay court swing, the young Romanian had only lost three times but since May, she’s lost to three players outside 40. The most shocking of these losses came at Wimbledon, to No. 106 Jana Cepelova in the first round.

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Maybe Bouchard, the official captain of the struggle bus, cursed Halep after she badmouthed the Canadian’s handshake blunder at the Davis Cup.

The other top 10 seeds to suffer early round losses were: ninth-seeded Carla Saurez-Navarro, seventh-seeded Ana Ivanovic, eighth-seeded Ekaterina Makarova and of second-seeded Petra Kvitova.

Saurez-Navarro and Ivanovic took the hardest losses of the batch to qualifier Jelena Ostapenko and wildcard Bethanie Mattek-Sands respectively.

Once again, the women’s draw is shambles, with only seven of the top 16 seeds actually in the round of 16. Who’s ready for another rollercoaster ride in week two?

Next: Lob and Smash 2015 Grand Slam Predictions

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