The Most Dramatic Wimbledon Upsets of the Modern Era 7
Kukas Rosol upset Rafael Nadal in the 2nd Round of Wimbledon
As a society, we love upsets—when the decided underdog comes up big to knock off the reportedly sure winner. It levels the playing field for that brief moment and we all feel empowered.
So, when Lukas Rosol sent Rafael Nadal home during their second round match at the All-England Club on Thursday, it marked a true upset. One of the most startling exits at Wimbledon in recent years.
As Rosol remarked in his post-match interview, Nadal is only human.
As such, even the great Nadal has some moments when he does not play his best for whatever reason pundits can determine.
For his part, Nadal had not looked comfortable at all during his early round matches at Wimbledon in 2012; but no one suspected that the world No. 2 could be defeated at this point of the Wimbledon fortnight.
As we look back surveying previous Wimbledon tournaments, determining upsets is a matter of degrees. Whenever the unexpected happens, we call that an upset.
We will use that criteria for discussing some of the greatest Wimbledon upsets in the history of the Modern Era in tennis.
The matches discussed here are listed in chronological order.
The debate about which upset is the most shocking will be saved for a later day.
Certainly this upset of Nadal on Centre Court in 2012 ranks right up there as one of the most shocking.
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