Crazy day at Wimbledon paves way for Murray, Djokovic and Serena Williams

Wednesday, 26 June. Day 3, Wimbledon 2013. Probably one of the craziest days in tennis history. After Nadal's loss in the first round, no one could picture another major upset anytime soon. But the unexpected happened. Not once or twice but ten times. There were four withdrawals and three retirements in a single day. Six former World No.1 were sent home in Round 2!

Let's rundown wacky Wednesday at Wimbledon:

1 - Withdrawal: Victoria Azarenka was the first victim of the slippery grass. She injured her right knee during her Round 1 victory against Portugal's Maria João Koehler. The Belarus withdrew before her second round match against Flavia Pennetta.

Looks very comfortable RT @HuffPostUKPics Azarenka slips during her match against Koehler http://t.co/ld6RGdf0Ud pic.twitter.com/dYhTUnOLeR
— Charlie Lindlar (@charlielindlar) June 24, 2013

2 - Upset: Roger Federer was upset by World Nº136 Sergiy Stakhovsky.

Elation for #Stakhovsky after beating #Federer in the 2nd round at #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/treitMYTPY
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 26, 2013

With this loss, the Swiss will be out of the Top 4 players in the world for the first time since 2003. This was also Federer's earliest loss at a Grand Slam for a decade. Seven-time Wimby champion was out before quarterfinals for the last time in 2002. "End of an era?" ... some might say.

Does Federer's defeat mark the end of an era?: Boris Becker and Tim Henman ask what the future holds for seven... http://t.co/sDar1r75jY
— BBC Tennis (@BBC_Tennis) June 27, 2013

3 - Upset: Maria Sharapova lost to qualifier Michelle Larcher de Brito in straight sets. The Russian was unable to overcome the grass voodoo (Masha and her 20 year-old opponent said the court was "dangerous") and the Portuguese spell. Between them, Portugal qualifiers Koehler and de Brito had a huge part in sending both second and third seed home in the early stages of the Championships.

Qualifier Michelle Larcher De Brito stuns Maria Sharapova 63 64 in 2R of @Wimbledon, her 1st career Top 10 victory! pic.twitter.com/cC1qpqUj49
— WTA (@WTA) June 26, 2013

4 - Withdrawal: Steve Darcis, who defeated Rafa Nadal in the first round, decided not to play against Lukasz Kubot due to an injury in his right shoulder. Tough decision for the Belgian.

Had to withdrawn after a win like this!?THE most difficult thing i had to do!!!#triedeverythingtoplaybutdidntwork!!!!
— steve darcis (@stevedarcishark) June 26, 2013

Marin Cilic withdrew due to a left-knee injury and Yaroslava Shvedova offered a walkover to Petra Kvitova because of an injury in her right arm. With Vika and Masha out, Kvitova is now top seed in her quarter. 

5- Retirements: Black Wednesday at Wimby also affected Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The French slipped, fell and hurt his knee. He retired in the third set. Radek Stepanek, on the other hand, quit in the second set. And John Isner's knee also got him in trouble. He retired after just two games in set 1.

Made a #Wimbledon pictorial of 21 players who took bad slips during Days 1-3. #Vika #Djokovic #Woz #Sharapova pic.twitter.com/sF3EvVxT6j
— Romi Cvitkovic (@RomiCvitkovic) June 26, 2013

6 - Upsets: Number nine-seed Caroline Wozniacki lost in straight sets 62 62 against Czech Republic's Petra Cetcovska. But she wasn't the only former 1-ranked player to say goodbye to SW19 on Round 2. Ana Ivanovic was defeated by teenager Eugenie Bouchard 63 63, followed by Jelena Jankovic who lost 75 62 to fellow Serbian Vesna Dolonc. 

With so many upsets in a single day, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams have their way paved to the finals. In fact, that was the joke of the day among tweeps: 

BREAKING: Live pictures of Djokovic and Murray after Federer's defeat at Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/54TB7fWfbl

— Football Funnys (@FootballFunnys) June 26, 2013

Pre-Wimbledon party: Serena Williams and Laura Robson in Burberry, more pics

Serena Williams and Laura Robson picked Burberry dresses for the Pre-Wimby Party, which is taking place  tonight at the Roof Gardens in London.

RT @WTA Live on the Pink Carpet at #WTAWimbyParty #TwitterMirror with @SerenaWilliams pic.twitter.com/3n8cBpIa4N
— Beyond The Baseline (@SI_BTBaseline) June 20, 2013

Jelena Jankovic is so trendy: fishtail hairstyle, cut-out dress, Jimmy Choo clutch and shoes - Best Dressed nominee much?

Live on the Pink Carpet at #WTAWimbyParty #TwitterMirror with @Jelena_Jankovic pic.twitter.com/OlXB0LvZdb
— WTA (@WTA) June 20, 2013

Radwanska wears Alexander McQueen

Heather Watson

Petra Kvitova

Laura Robson and host checking out H. Watson dress 

Sabine Lisicki

Sloane Stephens chose a cut-out dress just like JJ

Haha, Raise the Roof!!! #gorgeous RT @WTA Live on the Pink Carpet at #WTAWimbyParty #TwitterMirror with @Sloanetweets pic.twitter.com/qC7xyt1Qp7
— Tennis Inside Out (@TennisInsideOut) June 20, 2013

Captions from WTA Live stream 

London 2012 Tennis Vibe (photos)

We start the countdown to London 2012 Olympic Tennis Tournament, which will start next Saturday, with a gallery of photos from this past week...Players practicing, exchanging pins, meeting the fans. The mood at Wimbledon is summery and festive. Enjoy the vibe!

Federer loves being in Wimbledon for the second time this year

Ivanovic and Djokovic meet the fans

Julia Goerges practices at Wimbledon

Kvitová's accreditation

Djokovic and Murray

Olympic Torchbearers: Li Na, Venus Williams, Elena Baltacha

Andy Murray carried the Olympic torch at Wimbledon

Maria Sharapova

Berdych and Djokovic exchange pins

Novak hits some volleys

London 2012 Tennis souvenir

Serbia's Tennis Olympic Team

Masha is back at Wimby

Kazakhstan's doubles team

Wozniazki and Shvedova

Shvedova's Olympic HEAD bag

Caro at the Olympic village

Britain's Ladies Team

Kvitová practices at the All England Club

Serena Williams

Victoria Azarenka

Team Argentina

Agnieska Radwanska

All images via Facebook (Players pages, WTA, ATP, etc.)

Djokovic and Sharapova get three nominations for 2012 ESPYS

Novak Djokovic and Maria Sharapova received each three nominations in key categories at the 20th annual ESPY Awards, which will take place at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles, USA, on July 11, 2012.

Djokovic was recognized for his stunning run in 2011 with a nomination for Best Male Athlete. "The Serbian won three Grand Slam titles and a record five ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crowns en route to finishing the season ranked No. 1 in the year-end South African Airways ATP Rankings", says ATP Tour on its website. NBA Finals MVP LeBron James, NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers and MLB MVP and Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander are competing with Djokovic in this category, which was never awarded to a tennis player. 

Vote for Best Male Athlete!

Fans will determine the winners in all ESPY categories (except the Arthur Ashe Courage Award and other special awards) by voting online at ESPN. 
World number one is also nominated for Best International Athlete, along with footballers Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, and golfer Yani Tseng.

Vote for Best International Athlete!

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal compete with the Serbian in the Best Male Tennis Player category. Roger Federer is a six-timer winner of the ESPYs from 2005-2010 and Rafael Nadal got his first award last year.

Vote for Best Male Tennis Player!

Maria Sharapova also gets three nominations: Best Female Athlete, Best Comeback Athlete and Best Female Tennis Player, along with fellow nominees Victoria Azarenka, Petra Kvitová and Samantha Stosur.

Help Sharapova win Best Female Athlete and/or Best Comeback Athlete!

Vote for Best Female Tennis Player!

The 2012 ESPYS will be hosted by actor/comedian Rob Riggle and will be televised live Wednesday, July 11, at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPNHD from the Nokia Theatre at L.A. LIVE in Los Angeles.

Counting down to Wimbledon 2012 - Djokovic and Kvitová

Wimbledon Championships 2012 start in a few hours. Ahead of all the excitement, Tennis Boulevard shows you how players have prepared and what they expect of the tournament.

Novak Djokovic

Defending champion Novak Djokovic is prepared to eat the grass if necessary to win another Wimbledon title :) The Serbian says he is "feeling better than ever". “I’m playing with more self-belief on this surface,” admitted Djokovic in the traditional Sunday press-conference, where he previewed his participation on the Championships.

"Back to the good old All England Lawn Tennis Club, and feeling good", Djokovic said on Facebook

Sunday night, "Nole" wrote a long post on his Facebook and explained to his fans some of Wimbledon's traditions. "The great thing about Wimbledon that I really appreciate is the tradition that is respected and protected for more than 130 years. We still wear only white clothes during the tournament, and the defending champion always plays at 13h00 on Monday", he said, ahead of his first Championships match. The world Nº1 also emphasized that he and his opponent Juan Carlos Ferrero will be the first ones to play on the "perfect grass". "Nobody played there since last year :)", added. Another tradition is the defending champion's press conference, which always happens on "Sunday at 12 o'clock".

Novak hasn't played any Wimbledon warm-up tournament, but he was one of the first players to arrive in London so that he could have time to practice and adjust to the court surface. He did enjoyed a good time in the Boodles exhibition event on Thursday, 21 June, beating Andy Murray in straight sets.

Here are some photos of his Wimby warm-up practice and Boodles match:

Image via Djokovic's Facebook Page

Images via Wimbledon's Facebook Official Page

Boodles exhibition match against Murray (Image via AmyStewart25)

Traditional defending champion Press-Conference (via Wimbledon FB)

Pre-Wimbledon interview:

Petra Kvitová

Ladies defending champion Petra Kvitová will also have the honour to open play on Tuesday, 26, in Centre Court, as it happens every year to the women's defending champion. Her parents Jiri and Pavla will be watching from the Royal Box. "I think for me it's very nice to have them here for the first match as the defending champion. For them it's I think honour, too, because my father was my coach until my 16. They travel with me a lot, so for them it's very nice, for sure", world Nº4 said on her Sunday press-conference.

The Czech feels "honoured" to be a Wimbledon's champion and admits that there is some "pressure" for 2012 Championships. "I will try to not thinking about when I will be on the court and try to thinking about the points and about the match", she added. Kvitová played warm-up grass tournament Aegon Championships in Eastbourne and lost her first round match to Ekaterina Makarova. 

Here are some photos of her practice sessions at Wimbledon (Photos by Česká sportovní/Pavel Lebeda-sport-pics.cz): 

Petra Kvitová got into Wimbledon's spirit back in February when she took a tour of the Wimbledon courts and Museum accompanied by her compatriot and 9-time Wimbledon champion, Martina Navratilova. Watch CNN's exclusive report: 

Wimbledon: Federer and Djokovic could meet in the semis

Photo via Wimbledon's Facebook Page

The Wimbledon Singles Draw is now available. Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer are on a collision course once again, and could meet in the semifinal at Wimbledon. It's the 16th time in the past 21 majors, that the Serbian and the Swiss find themselves in the same half of the men's draw. Both will face Spaniards in the first round: Novak will play against Juan Carlos Ferrero and Roger will face Albert Ramos.

This means Rafael Nadal has eventually an easier path to the final. The Spanish has home hope Andy Murray, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Feliciano Lopez, Tommy Haas and Alexandr Dolgopolov as possible opponents. 

In the ladies draw, Maria Sharapova seems to have her way clear to the final. Her possible opponents are Sabine Lisicki, Jelena Jankovic and Angelique Kerber. Victoria Azarenka is on the bottom half of the draw and she will have Caroline Wozniacki on her course for a quarter-final clash.

Possible quarter-finals:

Men's singles: 

Top half of the draw

Roger Federer - John Isner

Novak Djokovic - Thomas Berdych

Bottom half of the draw

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga - Rafael Nadal

David Ferrer - Andy Murray

Women's singles:

Top half of the draw

Maria Sharapova - Angelique Kerber

Agnieska Radwanska - Samantha Stosur

Bottom half of the draw

Petra Kvitová - Serena Williams

Victoria Azarenka - Caroline Wozniacki

Wimbledon: Tennis ladies party in London!

Pre-Wimbledon party is happening right now in London! Players are looking glamorous on their way to Kensington Rooftop Gardens in West London, a restaurant and event space owned by Virgin's Richard Branson! The WTA party is presented by Dubai Duty Free. 

For the second year, in partnership with the British Fashion Council, leading British designers will dress the WTA's stars, says WTA on its website. Maria Sharapova is wearing Antonio Berardi, accessorized with Roger Vivier shoes, Amrapali jewelry, and Alexander McQueen clutch.

Serena Williams is in a Burberry dress, while Petra Kvitova is rocking a creation by Alexander McQueen.  Mulberry made the gown for Agnieszka Radwanska and Caroline Wozniacki is styled by her sponsor Stella McCartney. Ana Ivanovic looks stunning in Matthew Williamson and Li Na is gorgeous in a Giles Deacon.

Check out the latest pics from the players arriving at the event.

Sharapova wearing a Antonio Berardi's gown

Petra Kvitová looking gorgeous in Alexander McQueen

Ana Ivanovic with BBC presenter Sonali Shah (via Twitter)

Stunning Ana Ivanovic in Matthew Williamson

Caroline Wozniacki's sexy version in Stella McCartney

Serena's rocks a gorgeous Burberry dress

Venus Williams is all smiles 

Agnieska Radwanska (via her Official Facebook)

Agnieska Radwanska in Mulberry

British player Anne Keothavong 

Jelena Jankovic

Li Na in a beautiful Giles Deacon's dress 

French players arriving at the party

  

Sabine Lisicki (via her Official Twitter)

(Images via WTA's Facebook Page except Sabine Lisicki and Radwanska)