Disaster at Wimbledon as one star's 'sad' win saves Aussies from a complete wipeout
Crestfallen Alexei Popyrin has crashed out to a Briton ranked No.461 in the world while only a wonderful trademark comeback from Jordan Thompson could rescue Australia's depressingly icy start to Wimbledon 's hottest opening day ever.
Big-serving Popyrin, the 20th seed and the biggest Australian men's hope apart from Alex de Minaur, was left 'numb' after tumbling out to French-born English wildcard Arthur Fery 6-4 6-1 4-6 6-4 in one of the biggest upsets of a record-breaking first Monday.
And even never-say-die Thompson cut a forlorn figure after his latest comeback win from two sets down against Czech Vit Kopriva, admitting his back injury made the victory no fun and that he might still have to pull out of his second-round match.
As the temperature hit 32.9C, the rest of the first wave of Australia's 17-strong battalion - their biggest for 30 years - were all put in the shade with seven players in all tumbling out in conditions which one victim, Olivia Gadecki, admitted had been perfect conditions for the green-and-gold contingent.
Of those, none was more deflating than Popyrin's capitulation to wildcard Fery, a 22-year-old local Wimbledon lad who took full advantage of his 'home' advantage at the All England Club where his businessman father is a member.
Fery, whose dad Loic owns French soccer club Lorient, was a huge long shot, not even originally in the initial batch of wildcards named by the All England Club because his ranking had dropped so low, until he turned heads with a fine performance at Nottingham.
But world No.22 Popyrin felt he'd played so poorly against a man ranked 439 places below him that, afterwards, he sounded almost as dejected, demotivated and burned out as de Minaur had done following his early exit from the French Open.
'I just felt numb, I didn't feel sad, I didn't feel happy, I just felt numb,' he sighed. 'And that's not a feeling I've ever had before.
'I think it just shows that I understand why this result happened. It was because I was under-prepared going into Wimbledon, demotivated going into Wimbledon.'
The Sydneysider has been bemoaning his lack of consistency and after being Australia's last man standing at Roland Garros, reaching the fourth round, he was quickly dumped down to earth again in front of a roaring crowd on cramped court 15.
Thompson was magnificent in summoning up his familiar spirit on his favourite lawns to scrap his way back, eventually prevailing 3-6 4-6 6-3 7-6 (7-1) 6-1 against Kopriva for his third comeback from two sets down in three successive Wimbledons.
In all, it was Thompson's fourth five-set win at his favourite grass-court slam -- but at what cost?
'Tommo', who feared he might not even get to the start line because of his latest back problem in a year of injury woe, still wasn't sure if he'd now be fit to play his next match against Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi, who pulled off another contender for shock of the day by knocking out Daniil Medvedev 7-6 (7-2) 3-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-2.
'I'm just praying I can get back on the court,' said the 31-year-old.
'I'm taking painkillers, anti-inflammatories, but sometimes they can't really help.
'I'm just lucky to be on court even though it is sad that it's Wimbledon and I am not enjoying it as much as I usually do.
'I love playing tennis, competing, running around. I love getting the balls I probably shouldn't and I can't do that at the moment. It's extremely frustrating to watch balls go past me that I'm not even close to because I can't move. Practising, warming up, is just putting my body through hell.
'I don't think anyone would enjoy that.
The rest, though, was a long, burning tale of woe, from the moment Kim Birrell became the first player knocked out in a completed match at this year's championships - 6-0 6-4 to last year's semi-finalist and 22nd seed Donna Vekic - to Ajla Tomljanovic's late-evening loss to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 4-6 6-3 6-2.
There were a couple of gallant cracks at causing an upset, with Sydneysider James Duckworth taking Canadian 25th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime to five sets before losing 6-2 3-6 6-7 (2-7) 6-4 6-4.
Then 21-year-old Perth qualifier Talia Gibson also made it tough for four-time grand slam champ Naomi Osaka in the biggest match of her career, twice missing out when serving to take the contest into a third set, before the Japanese superstar made her pay with a 6-4 7-6 (7-4) triumph.
Chris O'Connell found the ever tricky French veteran Adrian Mannarino too much to handle, going down 6-2 6-4 6-3 in two-and-a-quarter one-sided hours, while Gadecki battled gallantly, saving five match points only to eventually succumb 6-2 7-6 (10-8) to Argentine lucky loser Solana Sierra.
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