Zverev survives Blockx, Wawrinka bids Wimbledon farewell in epic four-set battle

Tuesday at Wimbledon delivered everything a second day at the All England Club promises — a Roland Garros champion made to fight for his life under the Centre Court roof, the tournament’s top American seed wasting a match point before crashing out to a qualifier ranked 140th in the world, and a 41-year-old three-time Grand Slam champion walking off Court One for the very last time, soaking in an ovation that acknowledged not just the match he had just played, but everything he had given the sport over more than two decades.

London, England: Day 2 of the 2026 Wimbledon Championships produced two of the most compelling storylines of the tournament’s opening week — and both of them belonged to the men’s draw. Second seed Alexander Zverev, the reigning French Open champion, survived four sets to advance, while fourth seed Ben Shelton was eliminated 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 6-2, 7-6 by Finnish qualifier Otto Virtanen in what the American called “one of the toughest losses of my career.” And in the final match of the night, on Court One with the roof closed and the crowd on its feet, Stan Wawrinka bade farewell to the only Grand Slam he never won.

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Zverev: French Open Champion, Wimbledon Apprentice

Alexander Zverev arrived at Wimbledon carrying the weight of a first Grand Slam title — won at Roland Garros barely a month ago, making him the first German man to win a major since Boris Becker at the 1996 Australian Open — and all the expectation that comes with it. The German has one of the best serves on tour, but on grass he has historically struggled to find the aggression that defines his clay-court game; this is his tenth main draw appearance at Wimbledon and he has never once made the quarter-finals. Tuesday did little to fully dismiss that concern.

Zverev defeated 21-year-old Alexander Blockx 6-4, 6-7(8), 7-6(5), 7-6(0) in just under three hours — a match of three tiebreaks, 37 combined aces and just three breaks of serve across all four sets. The Belgian, ranked a career-high No. 36 and making his Wimbledon main-draw debut, matched Zverev shot for shot throughout, winning the second-set tiebreak 10-8 and taking the German to the limit in the third before Zverev finally dominated the fourth, winning the deciding tiebreak a stunning 7-0 to close it out.

“Roland Garros in the back of your head really helps,” Zverev said afterward, “but I do believe that I can play well on this surface and that I can play well when I get through some matches. I hope I will have the best result of my career here.” A win it was — but the manner will give him work to do heading into the second round against France’s Valentin Royer.

Shelton’s Heartbreak: A Match Point Wasted, a Career-First Defeat

For Ben Shelton, Tuesday was a different kind of day entirely. The 23-year-old American had never lost in the first round at Wimbledon. He had reached the quarter-finals here last year. He arrived as the fourth seed and the top American in the draw. He held a match point at 9-8 in the fifth-set tiebreak. None of it was enough.

Finnish qualifier Otto Virtanen produced the biggest result of his career, saving a match point to knock out Shelton 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 6-2, 7-6 in a contest lasting four hours and 24 minutes. The world No. 140, through from qualifying, refused to buckle in the deciding tiebreak that swung on the finest of margins — Shelton led 8-5 and held match point at 9-8, but made an unforced error before losing the next two points as Virtanen won it 11-9 to complete the upset, the first top-ten win of his career and, by ranking differential, the biggest casualty of the men’s draw so far. “I don’t know if I have a heart anymore — it probably bounced out of my body, but I’m here,” Virtanen said on court afterward.

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The loss marks the first time Shelton has lost in the first round at Wimbledon and his first first-round exit at a major since the 2023 Australian Open. The American was unflinching in his assessment. “I feel like it was an uphill battle all day today. I was pretty off on my serve spot, so I wasn’t getting many free points,” he said. “I had 15-40 three separate times in the fifth set. The guy came up with some ridiculous stuff.” For Virtanen, who had spent the weeks before Wimbledon building his grass-court game through the Nottingham Challenger and Birmingham, it was a performance that announced him to the wider tennis world — earned, point by point, over four hours and twenty-four minutes on No. 2 Court.

Wawrinka’s Farewell: Four Tiebreaks, Four Hours, a Final Goodbye

If Shelton’s exit was the upset of the day, Wawrinka’s was the emotion of it. The Swiss three-time Grand Slam champion — who won the Australian Open in 2014, the French Open in 2015 and the US Open in 2016 — has been one of the sport’s most beloved figures for over two decades. Wimbledon was the only Grand Slam he never won, with two quarter-final appearances in 2014 and 2015 his best results at the All England Club. On Tuesday, playing as a wildcard in what is expected to be his final Wimbledon appearance before retirement at the end of 2026, he gave the occasion everything he had.

Matteo Berrettini, the former world No. 6 and 2021 Wimbledon finalist, rallied for a 6-7(7), 7-6(16), 7-6(7), 7-6(5) victory across four hours and 20 minutes — a match that never produced a single break of serve across all four sets, every one decided by a tiebreak. The second-set tiebreak alone lasted a breathtaking 18-16, with Berrettini saving six set points to claw it back and level the match, before the roof closed on Court One and the atmosphere inside became electric.

“It’s never easy to say goodbye to something you love so much,” an emotional Wawrinka said after the match. Berrettini, visibly moved, told the crowd: “He’s a legend and he showed it today. Unbelievable player, unbelievable competitor. I remember in 2014, I was playing the juniors here and I snuck into Centre Court — he was playing against Roger. It was a big honour to play against him here.” Court One rose to its feet as Wawrinka walked off, a send-off that acknowledged everything a warrior career had meant to the sport.

The Rest of the Day — Seeds Advance, Bublik Grinds Through

Away from the headline drama, several seeds made their way safely into the second round. Fifth seed Alex de Minaur was comfortable in dispatching Roman Burruchaga 7-6, 6-1, 6-0, while sixth seed Taylor Fritz overcame Dusan Lajovic 6-3, 6-4, 6-3. Tenth seed Alexander Bublik survived a five-setter against Thanasi Kokkinakis, winning 4-6, 6-3, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4, his trademark aggression and eccentricity on full display throughout. Thirteenth seed Jiří Lehečka was the smoothest of the day’s seeded winners, dispatching Alexei Popyrin 6-4, 6-2, 6-4, while fifteenth seed Jakub Menšík needed a deciding fifth set to see off Toby Samuel 5-7, 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6.

Among the upsets, Zizou Bergs beat 27th seed Ugo Humbert 6-2, 7-5, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3, Lorenzo Sonego accounted for 29th seed Tomás Martín Etcheverry 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 7-6, and Kamil Majchrzak defeated 30th seed Alejandro Tabilo 6-3, 7-5, 7-5 as the seeded carnage from Day 1 continued to compound. Matches involving Frances Tiafoe and Flavio Cobolli were suspended due to fading light and will resume on Wednesday.

Day 2 is done. Zverev is through, but not convincingly. Shelton is out, his Wimbledon run ended by a qualifier with nothing to lose and everything to gain. And somewhere on Court One, an ovation still echoes for a man who gave the grass of SW19 more than two decades of his life, and never quite got the trophy he deserved in return.

Wimbledon 2026 — Men’s Singles, Day 2 Results
All England Club, London | Tuesday, 30 June 2026

Farewell: Stan Wawrinka exits Wimbledon for the final time — the only Grand Slam the Swiss legend never won.
Suspended: Frances Tiafoe vs T. Atmane; Flavio Cobolli vs Mariano Navone — resume Wednesday.