Our best matches, biggest upsets and top quotes from Week 1 of Wimbledon

As Wimbledon heads into the second week, we take stock on the drama and milestones that played out during Week 1.

Biggest Upsets

Yulia Putintseva def. [1] Iga Swiatek, third round, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2

Putintseva went from 0-8 in sets vs. Swiatek to winning 12 of the last 15 games Saturday in a display of disruptive, intelligent tennis. The win extended Putintseva’s win stream to a career-best eight matches. It’s wild to think she had never made it past the second round here.

Wang Xinyu def. [5] Jessica Pegula, second round, 6-4, 6-7(7), 6-1

Given her title run in Berlin, Pegula was a shortlist favorite to make at last least her first Grand Slam semifinal. Wang had other ideas. The 22-year-old from China snapped a three-match main-draw losing streak by outgritting Pegula from the baseline to score her first Top 10 win.

Lulu Sun def. [8] Zheng Qinwen, first round, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4

The 123rd-ranked qualifier sent a message of intent in the first round to knock out the Australian Open runner-up. Zheng may lack experience on grass, but she played an outstanding match to beat Naomi Osaka in Berlin.

Best performances

[4] Elena Rybakina def. [WC] Caroline Wozniacki, third round, 6-0, 6-1

In 57-minutes, the 2022 champion put on a grass-court masterclass of first-strike tennis.

[Q] Lulu Sun def. [WC] Emma Raducanu, fourth round, 6-2, 5-7, 6-2

Sun fired more than 50 winners and was the better player throughout the duel, but it was impossible to doubt she could close out the win. Despite the Centre Court crowd roaring with every point Raducanu won, Sun was able to block out the noise and crush her forehand to continue her fairytale run.

[19] Emma Navarro def. [2] Coco Gauff, fourth round, 6-4, 6-3

Navarro had already picked apart Naomi Osaka in the second round, but if anyone needed proof she’s the real deal, her tactical masterclass against Gauff should satisfy the doubters.

Most riveting matches

[31] Barbora Krejcikova def. Veronika Kudermetova, first round, 7-6(4), 6-7(1), 7-5

It wasn’t always pretty, but it was hard to ignore the struggles and stakes these two former Top 10 players were fighting through. Krejcikova needed over three hours to secure the win, saving 14 of 19 break points.

[18] Marta Kostyuk def. Daria Saville, second round, 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-4

Kostyuk and Saville dazzled the fans for over three hours and the Ukrainian fought off a match point to steal the win.

Most emotional wins

Harriet Dart def. [32] Katie Boulter, second round, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(8)

This Battle of the Brits was nervy and emotional. Ranked No.100, Dart wanted the win so badly it led to tears in the late stages of the match. She fell behind 6-2 in the deciding tiebreak only to win eight of the last 10 points to earn her first win over Boulter in six years.

Paula Badosa def. [14] Daria Kasatkina, third round, 7-6(6), 4-6, 6-4

Twelve months ago, Badosa retired from Wimbledon with a stress fracture in her back and sat on the sideline for the rest of the year. The comeback hasn’t been easy. After battling past Kasatkina for her first Top 20 win in over a year, Badosa’s reaction said it all.

Brenda Fruhvirtova def. [24] Mirra Andreeva, first round, 1-6, 6-3, 6-2

The battle of 16-year-old phenoms went the way of the Czech, who handed Andreeva her first opening-round exit at a Slam. It was a match of fire vs. ice, and as Andreeva saw the win slipping away, Fruhvirtova’s hand stayed steady. This is a matchup we’ll see many times over the next 15 years.

Photo of the Week

Best shot

Notable numbers

30: Years since the Ladies’ Wimbledon champion lost in the first round of her title defense. Stefanie Graf was the first in the Open Era to do so, bowing out to Lori McNeil in 1994. Marketa Vondrousova was the second, losing to Jessica Bouzas Maneiro.

21: Win streak for Iga Swiatek, which came to an end in the third round against Yulia Putintseva.

40: Years since three British women advanced to the third round at Wimbledon. Harriet Dart, Sonay Kartal and Emma Raducanu ended the drought last week.

10: Games lost by Coco Gauff and Jelena Ostapenko en route to the fourth round, the fewest dropped over that span since Maria Sharapova lost seven and Agnieszka Radwanska lost nine in 2014.

4: American women in the fourth round at Wimbledon (Coco Gauff, Danielle Collins, Madison Keys and Emma Navarro), the most since 2016.

Best quotes

“Yeah, change of an opponent an hour before the match is not the vibes. Do not recommend. Zero out of 10.”

— Sloane Stephens after facing a lucky loser in the first round

“Honestly, before my match I was looking at my photo album. Like, they have that feature ‘this time last year.’ I was looking at photos of myself in the hospital.

“It’s really cool to be here now. I think my mindset last year was just trying to survive. Honestly, I didn’t really know what was going on after I gave birth. Yeah, [I was] just trying to piece myself back together.”

— Naomi Osaka after her first-round win

“Chinese obviously from my mom’s side, is very disciplined, hard-working. From my dad’s side, Croatian, he’s from the seaside, so very laid back and calm. I guess that’s a good combo.”

— Lulu Sun after her second-round win

“I had a really heartbreaking loss in the French Open losing in the third set tiebreak. So I thought to myself, There’s no way you’re losing today, you cannot go out two slams in a row with a hearbreak.”

— Donna Vekic after her third-round win over Dayana Yastremska

“It doesn’t need to be beautiful, it doesn’t need to be perfect. As long as you get through the opening rounds, you give yourself another chance to play better. For circumstances to align, as long as you’re still in the tournament, you keep giving yourself that chance.”

— Emma Raducanu after her first-round win

“I think tennis in its more original form is a game of good sportsmanship and of camaraderie. I think one of the things I love about sport is that it brings a lot of different people together. So when I have a good relationship with my opponent, I think it just creates a really cool atmosphere where, obviously, we want to beat each other, but we’re out there fighting for the same thing and doing what we love, and it’s positive.”

— Emma Navarro after her second-round win

“When you’re a tennis player or a person in your life, you have a lot of persons who saying that you cannot do it, you’re so bad, I don’t know, you don’t have tennis, you don’t have these qualities, your effort is not so good.

“To these people it’s, like, I don’t know, shut up to them.”

— Jessica Bouzas Maneiro on the “Shhhhhhh” tattoo on her finger

Q. If you could step back and would have the opportunity to invite three people from the tennis world to a dinner gathering, who would those three people be?

Naomi Osaka: Andre Agassi, Li Na, and can I invite myself?

Q. No.

Osaka: Oops, OK. Andre Agassi, Li Na. … Is it like a friendly gathering or am I learning from them?

Q. It can be friendly, it can be fierce, anything that you would like.

Osaka: Sharapova.

“We have a cosmetic bag, makeup and different hair stuff because I got a lot of hair. Bobby pins because I’ve got bangs, and that can be hard to manage. Some little sweet potato snack things. Some blister Band-Aids. I’ve got headphones. I’ve got lots of SPF. When I say ‘lots,’ I mean lots of SPF because I burn easily, and I got to protect my skin. I’ve got more snacks. I’ve got another snack. I’ve got another snack.”

— Danielle Collins itemizing the contents of her bag during her second-round press conference

“I want to get to 130. I think the fastest I’ve gotten is 128. Do I have a 130 in me? I don’t know. Maybe if I was a little bit taller. I can get definitely 130. Now, if it goes in, I don’t know.”

— Coco Gauff on maxing out her serve.

“I wasn’t the best junior growing up, like ITFs and stuff. I wasn’t that great. A bit of a late developer. I lost a lot of matches from playing too safe. I kind of had enough of losing and was like, I need to change something. If I have it on my wrist, I can see it. It’s a little reminder at change of ends.”

— Sonay Kartal explaining the symbol for “bravery” that she has tattooed on her wrist

“Love his energy. Love his attitude. Love the way he talks to me, Spanish. Sometimes I don’t even know what he’s saying, but sounds good.”

— Ons Jabeur on working with Fernando Verdasco

“Obviously I am determined on every tournament. Actually, this part of the season is not easy because it’s the middle of the season and we’re switching surfaces. For me, going from this kind of tennis where I felt like I’m playing the best tennis in my life to another surface where I kind of struggle a little bit more, it’s not easy. All that stuff really combines to me not really having a good time in Wimbledon.”

— Iga Swiatek after her third-round loss

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