Rafael Nadal, fresh off his historic eighth French Open victory, lost to the 135th-ranked player in the first round at Wimbledon.
Roger Federer, who has won Wimbledon a stunning seven times, lost to the world's 116th-ranked player, ending a string of 36 consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinals appearances.
Maria Sharapova, after a series of nasty spills, lost to a 20-year-old ranked 128 spots below her. On top of that, seven players, including No. 6 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, were forced to leave the tournament because of injury — a single-day record for a Grand Slam.
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Now that three of the world's most popular players are gone, who should the casual tennis fan root for?
The top-ranked players in the world, Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams, are both still in it. If you're not into cheering for the favorites, maybe you should try:
Andy Murray
Who can forget Murray's teary speech after losing the Wimbledon final to Federer in 2012? This year, with Nadal and Federer gone, the number one-ranked player in the U.K. could finally celebrate a Grand Slam win in front of his home crowd — the first Brit to do so since Fred Perry in 1936.
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Tommy Haas
An old-timer in the tennis world, the 35-year-old Haas has made something of a comeback this year, climbing up to 13 in the rankings. The German-born player has been to Wimbledon 14 times — with zero wins to show for it. Haas beat Djokovic in March, a sign that he might not be overmatched if he makes it deep into the tournament. One person who will be rooting for him: Federer, who gave him a ride to Wimbledon on his private jet earlier in the week.
Laura Robson and Eugenie Bouchard
Why list the two 19-year-olds together? Because they're best friends, posing with each other on Twitter and even creating a globe-trotting Gangnam Style video together (below). They also pulled a pair of epic upsets: Robson, from the U.K., beat 10th-seeded Maria Kirilenko, while the Canadian Bouchard took out 12th-seeded Ana Ivanovic. The last teenager to win Wimbledon was Martina Hingis 16 years ago.
Kimiko Date-Krumm
At 42 years old, Kimiko Date-Krumm is the oldest woman ever to reach the third round of Wimbledon. How impressive is she? The Japanese veteran initially retired in 1996 — one year after her first-round opponent, Carina Witthoeft, was born. Back in pro tennis since 2008, Date-Krumm will have to face Serena Williams next, a high-profile match that harks back to her Wimbledon showdown with Stefi Graf 17 years ago.
Keith Wagstaff is a staff writer at TheWeek.com covering politics and current events. He has previously written for such publications as TIME, Details, VICE, and the Village Voice.
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