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