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This year’s Wimbledon has several unseeded underdogs and the US Open will be better

By Keshav Gopalan

LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 02: Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland celebrates his victory against Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria after their Men's Singles first round match on day one of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 2, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 02: Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland celebrates his victory against Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria after their Men's Singles first round match on day one of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 2, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images) /
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Yesterday heralded the end of the first round matchups in Wimbledon.

It also led to a third of the seeds being wiped out in both the Gentlemen and Women’s draws. Surprising, isn’t it?

Unseeded Underdogs

How did this happen? Several top players just fell off the radar and dropped in the rankings. However, they seem to have found form in Wimbledon. Stan Wawrinka stands out the most. Having dropped outside the top 200 after the end of the French Open, Wawrinka just couldn’t catch a break – After losing to Querrey in Queens, he drew Andy Murray in Eastbourne.

Things seemed to be getting worse, with him drawing Grigor Dimitrov in the first round of Wimbledon. However, the Mercurial Swiss, known for showing up for slams, took out the 6th seed in 4 sets, hauntingly similar to his dismissal to Del Potro in 2016.

Several other seeded players were dismissed by players who were once in the top 30, or even the top 10. Gael Monfils beat 23rd seed Richard Gasquet,  while former #8 Marcos Baghdatis beat Dominic Thiem, who retired because of injury.

Former #7 Belinda Bencic beat Caroline Garcia. Medvedev beat Borna Coric. Sharapova and Kvitova lost in their first 1st round Wimbledon loss.

The list is endless.

Related Story: Eugenie Bouchard: Wimbledon Win Sparks Momentum

More to come this US Open

The US Open will have more names added to the list of unseeded underdogs. Tomas Berdych, who withdrew from Wimbledon because of a back injury, will likely return for the US Open and will be unseeded.

Next: Nadal takes Wimbledon opener with ease

Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, out of action since February, will also likely make a return soon and will be unseeded as well. Not to forget one of the most dangerous unseeded players, Andy Murray, will also return to competitive action in the US Open. Expect more upsets in the coming days and in the coming slam as well as players who fell off the radar continue to find their form.

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