At Wimbledon, Alexander Zverev loses in a Grand Slam first round for the first time since 2019

It almost seemed as if the interruption on Monday was what Alexander Zverev needed. The world No. 3 went into his Wimbledon first-round match against Arthur Rinderknech as the heavy favorite, but was proven wrong in the first set. After just under an hour of play, the Frenchman took a 7-6 lead against the BOSS Open finalist. In the second set, Zverev even had to fight off three set points from Rinderknech before celebrating a one-set all tie with a loud scream of joy.

After Alcaraz had previously struggled over five sets against Fabio Fognini on Centre Court, it became clear that it would be impossible for Zverev and Rinderknech to finish their match before Wimbledon's 11 p.m. curfew.

So the duo returned to Centre Court on Tuesday afternoon. However, contrary to expectations, it was Rinderknech who once again took control and took the lead with a break.

The German was unable to do much against the Frenchman's flat forehand and numerous drop shots, while too many errors sneaked into his service games. After just under an hour, the Frenchman then confirmed a 7-6, 6-7, 6-3 lead with a second break.

The fourth set began with the next acid test for the third seed. Zverev gave his one-year-older opponent the first break points with a double fault. But all of a sudden, Zverev hit the peak of his game, served an ace, and leveled the score at 1-1. With a loud roar, he showed that he had finally arrived in the match.

But the turning point did not mean that Zverev dominated from then on—post-roar, he was only able to keep up with the Frenchman on equal terms.

After he was unable to convert six break-point opportunities, the match finally went into a tiebreaker, which decided whether Zverev would be eliminated in the first round or whether a fifth set would be played.

Here, Rinderknech pulled ahead again with a mini-break—but Zverev soon unleashed the qualities that make him the current third-ranked player in the world. He proved that he would by no chance give up, closed the gap to 5-5, served a second serve of 135 mph and secured a set point.

Although Rinderknech served, had the advantage, and closed in on the net, it was Zverev benefitted from a untimely miss at the net by his opponent and unexpectedly won the fourth set.

But once again, Zverev was unable to take the momentum from the fourth set into the next. At 1-1, he conceded the next break, and he trailed until the end of the deciding set.

Whilst Zverev was the mentally weaker player, Rinderknech seemed to be a little behind physically. At 5-4 and after four hours and almost 40 minutes, Rinderknech eventually served for the match. Would Zverev make a comeback and earn his first break of the match. Or would Rinderknech get his nerves under control and serve out one of the biggest wins of his career?

The Frenchman ultimately served his way to three match points with brilliant skill, converted the third of those, and fell to the ground in relief.

"I don't even know where to start," smiled Rinderknech during the on-court interview. "I feel just like you here in the stadium. I felt every ‘hui’, the highs and lows, too. My legs are still shaking."

Rinderknech was unable to say much more due to his excitement, nervousness, relief and tiredness. But what he did say was: "It means so much to me to win like this in front of my team!"

While the Frenchman celebrated the biggest victory of his career, Zverev endured the most bitter opener for many years. It was exactly six years ago that the German lost in the first round of a Grand Slam tournament. Back then, as the sixth seed at the 2019 Championships, he lost to Jiri Vesely in four sets.