London, United Kingdom — Naomi Osaka, Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas crashed out of Wimbledon on a black Monday for the stars at the All England Club.
Japanese superstar slumped to a 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 defeat to 39th-ranked Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan who had defeated the world number two on grass in Birmingham two weeks ago.
She was joined at the exit door by German sixth seed Zverev and Tsitsipas, the seventh seed, both players tipped as potential champions this year.
US Open and Australian Open winner Osaka is the first top-two seed to lose in the first round since Martina Hingis in 2001.
The defeat follows her third round exit at the French Open.
“Can we stop now? I think I am going to cry,” she told reporters as she made a quick exit from her post-match news conference.
Osaka has yet to make a final since her Australian Open win in January.
“There are answers to questions that you guys ask that I still haven’t figured out yet,” she admitted.
Zverev, 22, lost 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 to Czech qualifier Jiri Vesely, the world number 124.
“Everything outside the court affects you, I won’t get into details now, but the last couple of days have been very rough for me,” said Zverev who has never got beyond the last 16.
Just 15 minutes after Zverev’s defeat, 20-year-old Tsitsipas lost 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 6-7 (8/10), 6-3 to world number 89 Thomas Fabbiano of Italy.
Tsitsipas had reached the semifinals of the Australian Open in January and the last-16 at Roland Garros as well as the fourth round at Wimbledon last year.
“If I won today I would not have deserved it. It should have been over in three sets,” said Tsitsipas.
“I feel devastated.”
Canadian 18-year-old Felix Auger-Aliassime kept ‘NextGen’ hopes alive by beating Canadian compatriot Vasek Pospisil 5-7, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3.
Victory made the 19th seed the first player born in the 2000s to win a match at Wimbledon.
Defending champion Novak Djokovic got his campaign for a fifth Wimbledon title off to a winning start with newly-hired coaching team recruit, and 2001 winner, Goran Ivanisevic helping steer the ship
Djokovic, chasing a fifth title at the All England Club, saw off 35-year-old Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-3, 7-5, 6-3.
If his victory was routine, there was nothing predictable about Djokovic’s decision to bring Ivanisevic into his inner sanctum over the weekend.
“I have always looked up to Goran. When he won here in 2001, I feel I was part of that as he had trained in Germany at the same base as me when I was 13-14,” said Djokovic.
“I feel as if I contributed to his victory,” joked Djokovic who next faces Denis Kudla of the United States.
Fourth seed Kevin Anderson, runner-up to Djokovic in 2018, eased into the second round beating Pierre-Hugues Herbert of France 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. AFP