Félix Auger-Aliassime knocked out in first round at Wimbledon

On paper, the 45th in the world did not pose a great threat to the 6th seed of the tournament and quarter-finalist in 2021. But on grass, the threat of the rare specialist in serve and volley was very real.

In their first duel on the ATP circuit, the American giant had the upper hand in four sets of 6-7, 6-4, 7-6 (11/9) and 7-6 (7/5). This is a first win against a top 10 player for the 25-year-old American.

The two big servers, 3rd and 6th in terms of the number of successful aces since the start of the season on the ATP circuit, bombarded their rival respectively with 28 aces for Auger-Aliassime and 18 for Cressy.

With such sharp serves, the outcome of three of the four sets of the tiebreaker was in the logic of things.

In the second set, Maxime Cressy was the first and only player to break serve in the game to lead 2-1. This extremely rare breakage made the difference in the end.

Auger-Aliassime will no doubt have some nightmares thinking about the tiebreaker in the third set, won 11-9 by his American rival. The Quebecer, who was trailing 0-4 in the break, let slip two innings before committing a fatal double fault.

The 21-year-old saved a first match point in the fourth set, but gave up in the second in the tiebreaker.

Maxime Cressy, in addition to his 18 aces, won an astonishing total of 94 points at net from 133 climbs, a success rate of 71%.

This is the first time, in third place at Wimbledon, that the Quebecer has lost in the first round.

Shapovalov resists Rinderknech return

The day promised to be relatively easy for Denis Shapovalov. The 13th seed of the tournament won the first set of his duel against Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech with a score of 6-1.

However, the tide quickly turned.

The southpaw then lost the 2nd and 3rd sets to his rival in a tiebreaker. He then came to his senses and proved his superiority by winning the last two sets 6-4 and 6-1.

Semi-finalist in 2021, Shapovalov arrived in London on a nasty streak of 5 defeats.

The Ontarian had 20 aces in the game. He hit 58 winners and committed 40 unforced errors.

He will face the American Brandon Nakashima, 56th in the world, in the second round.

Rafael Nadal makes a successful comeback

Rafael Nadal, who had not played at Wimbledon since his semi-final loss in 2019, resumed his marks on center court where he dropped a set before dismissing the Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo, 41st in the world, at the score of 6-4, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.

Winner of the first two grand slam tournaments of the season, in Australia and at Roland-Garros, the Spaniard with the record of 22 major titles will face the Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis (106th) in the second round.

Nadal, double winner on the London lawn, in 2008 and 2010, did not seem embarrassed by his left foot affected by a degenerative and incurable disease, Müller-Weiss syndrome, which openly threatens the rest of his career.

But for his first match on grass of the season, after pulsed radiofrequency treatment to reduce foot pain, Nadal largely held the shock and screamed it when the last shot of his opponent, who discovered Wimbledon, is out of bounds.

After the loss in set three, the Spaniard looked a bit struggling, especially as he was broken down and trailed 3-1, then 4-2 in set four. But from there, he chained the next four games which allowed him to join the 2nd round.