The globe’s third-ranked tennis player, Alexander Zverev, faced an unwelcome repeat of history on Tuesday at the Wimbledon tournament, succumbing in the initial round for the second instance in his tenure at the All England Lawn Tennis Club in London. Zverev successfully maintained his serve in the fourth set, compelling and subsequently securing a tiebreak, before Rinderknech countered with the most significant victory of his career, concluding with scores of 7-6, 6-7, 6-3, 6-7, 6-4.
Rinderknech, who consistently held his serve throughout the duration of the match, had suffered defeat in 18 out of the 25 matches contested in 2025, prior to the world’s 72nd-ranked player exhibiting his finest performance on the grass surface. His record stands at 2-16 against top 10 adversaries, with the only preceding triumph occurring against the American athlete, Ben Shelton, earlier in the ongoing year.
Zverev committed a significant error, sending a passing shot beyond the baseline while serving at 40-30 during the third game of the fifth set, and subsequently conceded a break two points later to Rinderknech, after his two-handed backhand attempt fell short.
Rinderknech secured the subsequent game with relative ease while serving, thereby establishing a commanding advantage of 3-1 in the concluding set. After a few additional games, Rinderknech’s powerful forehand concluded Zverev’s efforts in the eighth game of the fifth set, affording him a 5-3 lead.
Zverev scarcely made contact with Rinderknech’s strategically placed return, as the spectators at Wimbledon enthusiastically cheered for the underdog prior to the changeover. On the third match point at 5-4, Rinderknech definitively secured the victory with a winning shot. Rinderknech nearly clinched the match earlier, capitalizing on consecutive forehand errors from Zverev to initiate the fourth-set tiebreak, encompassing a strike that grazed the net cord and veered wide.
However, the 6-foot-6 German competitor wasn’t prepared to concede defeat. At 4-3 in the tiebreak, Rinderknech coerced a backhand that sailed beyond the baseline from Zverev, before faltering on a forehand, thereby sustaining his opponent’s involvement in the match. Zverev leveled the tiebreak at five after prevailing in a rally on his subsequent serve, prior to seizing a one-point advantage with an ace that reached a speed of 136 miles per hour.
Rinderknech conceded the set while serving, when an attempted drop shot landed in the net, thereby extending the match to five sets.
Zverev stated before the commencement of the match that he was progressively acclimating to the surface at Wimbledon.
“I didn’t hold a particular fondness for grass previously, but I do perceive that in recent years I’ve been performing effectively on the surface, particularly during the preceding year, when I believed I was showcasing my finest tennis at Wimbledon, but unfortunately, I sustained an injury in the third round against Cam Norrie,” Zverev remarked, as quoted by Tennis365. “I harbor the aspiration that this year will mirror that, but devoid of injury, and we shall observe the extent of my advancement and my capabilities at this juncture.”
Zverev, whose most commendable performance at Wimbledon includes three appearances in the fourth round, is entering the competition following a defeat in the French Open quarterfinals against Novak Djokovic earlier in the summer, and he attributed his inconsistent performance to the prevailing weather conditions.
Zverev has never achieved victory in a Grand Slam event and has been defeated on three occasions in respective finals, inclusive of the 2025 Australian Open. Zverev’s current record stands at 35-14 in singles matches for the year, with his solitary tournament triumph occurring at the BMW Open.
