Stefanos Tsitsipas, Daniil Medvedev, Holger Rune and Matteo Berrettini, all seeded in the men’s singles draw at the 2025 Wimbledon Championships, shockingly crashed out of the grass Major in the very first round. Later, all four ATP stars reflected on their respective results.
Tsitsipas, the No. 24 seed, trailed French qualifier Valentin Royer 3-6, 2-6 before deciding to retire mid-match with a back injury. Later, the former World No. 3 and two-time Grand Slam finalist laid bare his fragile mental state at a press conference, saying:
“It’s really painful to see myself in a situation like this. One thing that I absolutely hate doing is retiring or stopping a match, but I’ve never pictured myself being in a situation like this multiple times since the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin a couple of years back. Since that time, I’ve been very fragile with my body, and I’ve been battling a war of feeling healthy and feeling comfortable going to the extremes, which has been a difficult battle.”
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Stefanos Tsitsipas, whose 2025 Wimbledon Championships outing was his first Major campaign under the tutelage of coach Goran Ivanisevic, added:
"So I really don't know. I feel like I'm left without answers. I don't know. I've tried everything. I've done an incredible job with my fitness. I've done an incredible job with my physiotherapy, so I've maximised on everything that I possibly can do. Right now I'm just absolutely left with no answers. I don't know what to do."
For Daniil Medvedev, who reached the semifinals at SW19 in 2023 and last year as well, things turned frustrating against Benjamin Bonzi. The Frenchman secured a shocking 7-6(2), 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-2 victory against the ninth-seeded Russian, with the latter expressing surprise at the level of Bonzi's performance and concern at his own.
"I would be very worried if not for the Halle tournament, where I played well and managed to be in the final, playing a great level. That why I can compare today’s match to this tournament. I feel like I didn’t play much worse. Court is a bit different. Tiny bit slower with the heat also. But every shot I played today, even good shots, he had an answer," the former No. 1 and 2021 US Open champion said.
The Russian, who made the final at the Terra Wortmann Open in Halle in the buildup to the Wimbledon Championships, added:
"I was supposed to play him or Halys in Halle. I watched the match. He couldn’t play two balls in the court. Not two in a row. I was surprised. I was like, ‘it’ll be tough against Quentin.’ I played good. I won. Today he barely missed. A little on the forehand. The backhand I remember maybe 3 unforced errors."
Holger Rune and Matteo Berrettini followed in Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev's unfortunate Wimbledon 2025 trajectory
For Holger Rune and Matteo Berrettini, the No. 8 and 32 seeds respectively, things turned out to be even more heartbreaking compared to the fortunes of Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev. Both the Dane and the Italian played marathon five-set matches, but ultimately failed to prevail.
Rune led Nicolas Jarry by two sets and was in pole position to secure progress to the second round. Astonishingly though, the Chilean recovered to register a 4-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 win. Later, the Dane cited a knee injury flare-up as the reason behind his collapse. He also claimed that in peak physical condition, he would have had the upper hand against the Chilean.
"If I play normally, I beat him nine out of ten times, with all due respect to Nicolas Jarry. Obviously, today wasn't easy for me with my knee, but yes, it wasn't great," Rune said.
Meanwhile, Matteo Berrettini was upset by the unseeded Kamil Majchrzak from Poland. The Italian, who finished as the runner-up at the 2021 Wimbledon Championships, suggested that he'd take time to assess his five-set loss to the Pole.
"Tennis has been very tough for me these past few months. I am very sorry for the people who helped me get to this tournament; they did everything possible. Honestly, this is not the way I want to be on the court, I don't enjoy being there. I need to take some time and think about my future. It is clear to me that this is not how I like to spend my time on the court," Berrettini said.
Taylor Fritz, the No. 5 seed, was on the verge of elimination from Wimbledon as well. The American lost the first two sets of his opening match against the big-serving Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, but leveled things up by winning the next two. The final set will be played on Day 2 of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships, as the match was suspended due to a local rule.
