Wimbledon—the most prestigious of them all, the royal gathering place for tennis and the most anticipated Grand Slam event in tennis history. The grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London, England, have showcased some of the greatest tennis spectacles and their combatants since the tournament's creation in 1877.
It still stands today as the most popular event in the sport of tennis.
Wimbledon has seen some spectacular matches throughout the decades. It's also seen some outstanding champions. From the cream of the crop in Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic to Serena Williams, Steffi Graf, and Martina Navratilova, the titles came in bunches, and at least for the male trio, several came against each other.
What are the biggest upsets in Wimbledon history?
While Wimbledon has had numerous phenomenal matches over time—quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals alike, one of the greatest elements sports have to offer is the upset. In tennis, there have been many. In Wimbledon, there have been some epic upsets, and while there are too many to flesh out, here are three that may bring back some memories.
3. Ivo Karlovic over Lleyton Hewitt, 1-6, 7-6, 6-3, 6-4 (2003)
The fiery presence that was Lleyton Hewitt captured crowds almost everywhere, especially in his native Australia, and that same fiery spirit helped him win Wimbledon in 2002. A year later, Hewitt was a two-time Grand Slam winner (also the 2001 US Open) and ready to defend his title against Ivo Karlovic of Croatia, who at that point had won just two main tour matches leading up to Wimbledon.
Karlovic had never qualified for a Grand Slam event prior and walked into the match against Hewitt, ranked 203 in the world. It should have been a straight-sets wash. Hewitt had title defense on his side against Karlovic and admitted to never seeing the Croatian play a match before. Shockingly, Hewitt fell to the 6'10" giant 1-6, 7-6, 6-3, 6-4, obliterating his repeat bid in the first round.
Hewitt never won another Grand Slam title after his victory in '02. While he would make another major final later on and go on to win 30 tour titles, his loss to Karlovic was undoubtedly one of his greatest defeats and one of Wimbledon's most notable upsets.
2. Jelena Dokic over Martina Hingis, 6-2, 6-0 (1999)
Martina Hingis, who has since gone down as one of the greatest young female tennis players of all time, was no stranger to success at Wimbledon before her crash in 1999. She had won the event two years before in 1997 and was a semifinalist in 1998.
Not even 20 years old, Hingis had already broken onto the scene and entered the '99 Wimbledon classic as the No. 1-ranked player on tour.
Highly expected to make another deep run in London, 16-year-old Jelena Dokic had other ideas. It was Dokic's first taste of Wimbledon, and she had won three qualifying matches en route to making the cut. Whatever her expectations were at the time, likely, overcoming the world No.1 in the opening round wasn't one.
It wasn't the loss itself that made Hingis's defeat one of Wimbledon's greatest upsets; it was that Dokic essentially shooed Hingis off the court in straight sets, 6-2, 6-0. It truly was an upset. Hingis would capture five Grand Slams in her career, but injuries forced an early retirement at only 22 years of age.
Who knows how many more she would have won after winning so much in such a small window?
1. Steve Darcis over Rafael Nadal 7-6(4), 7-6(8), 6-4 (2013)
Even Rafael Nadal can't escape an upset here and there, even though he appeared immortal and unbeatable for the majority of his career. Nadal suffered from a few upsets in his career, but none greater than the time Steve Darcis took him out in the first round at Wimbledon in 2013.
As he did most years, Nadal rolled into Wimbledon fresh off another French Open win, but of the four majors, the one on grass was the hardest to get, having won Wimbledon just twice in his illustrious career. He likely had no idea he wouldn't win it again after 2010, and at least in 2013, Darcis made sure of that.
It was Nadal's first-ever opening-round defeat at a Grand Slam—a 7-6, 7-6, 6-4 straight sets win for Darcis. Granted, Nadal was dealing with a knee issue at the time.
That said, he had played in nine events leading up to London and reached the finals in all of them, winning seven. Darcis's win was incredibly unexpected, but he walked away with the most significant high point of his career. As for Nadal, it was one of his worst and one of the most shocking upsets in Wimbledon history.
Of course, at the time, Rafa had 12 Grand Slams already, with 10 more to follow.
What does 2025 have in store?
Considering the theme here, and for the sake of drama and shock factor, an upset this year would be welcome. If we're being honest, though, while tennis does offer some epic upsets, it's also a predictable sport more often than not.
For almost two decades, everyone knew either Federer or Nadal would come out on top. Djokovic would eventually steal the dominance and, well, dominate. On the women's side, there was more excitement and adventure in the major finals, as long as Serena Williams wasn't involved.
The same story remains on the WTA tour—anyone could be upset at Wimbledon this year. As for the story on the ATP tour, a degenerate gambler is likely safe tossing all their chips into the Carlos Alcaraz or Jannik Sinner pot with no significant upsets to the title favorites.
Could there be an epic first-round upset? Sure, history tells us as much. We don't have to wait much longer to find out, with Wimbledon just one week away, and that's nothing to get upset about.