Tennis is one of the oldest sports in the world; that began its journey in the 12th century, and since then, sports fans have witnessed many upsets in the game. In sports betting, few terms are coined for the teams or players, such as favorite and underdog. The favorite is the one whose chances of winning are high, whereas the underdog has relatively lower winning chances. Sometimes, the underdog changes the game moment by defeating the favorite, and the tennis fans call this moment upsets. Here, in this article, you will come through the biggest tennis upsets, so let’s begin the journey. And if you like tennis, on Buaksib you can find the latest sports news and highlights videos.
The Most Shocking Tennis Upset In Recent History
In a recent incident, the 17th times’ grand slam winner, Novak Djokovic, was defeated by Dennis Istomin in the Australian Open. Likewise, there are several such upsets in tennis history where the legends (Serena Williams, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer) were defeated by the underdogs. Now, let’s see such incidents, which are coined as the biggest upsets in tennis history.
1. Dennis Istomin Defeated Novak Djokovic In The Australian Open (2017)
At the Australian Open, the performance of Novak Djokovic was outstanding as in the past; he won many titles in AO, but 2017 brought the biggest upset for the tennis fans. The match was between the emerging player Dennis Istomin and the tennis legend Novak Djokovic. Initially, the match was on the side of Novak as he got the lead, but things changed rapidly, and Istomin won the five sets.
The defeat of the Novak Djokovic was the biggest upset in tennis history because his last loss in the Australian Open was in 2006, when he failed to reach the second round, and at that time, he was only 19. Since after that, he hardly lost any match, and mostly he conceded the Australian Open title.
2. Lucas Rosol Defeated Rafael Nadal In Wimbledon 2012
Rafael Nadal is a master in Wimbledon who bagged two titles, i.e., in 2008 and 2010. But 2012 was quite shocking and surprising for every tennis fan as in this match, he got defeated by an underdog Lucas.
Before the match, everyone was quite sure that Rafael Nadal would reach the finals of Wimbledon, but Lucas, who was hardly known by anyone, changed the perspective of everyone. His outstanding performance, including accuracy, speed, power, and shot selection, made his dream come true, and he successfully defeated the tennis legend Rafael Nadal.
3. Sergiy Stakhovsky Defeated Roger Federer In Wimbledon, 2013
The winner of the 2012 Wimbledon championship was surprisingly defeated by Sergiy. That was the biggest upset in tennis history because nobody believed that it would happen. Well, at that time, Sergiy was holding 116 sports in tennis, and Roger was the defending champion, so it was quite easy to predict the winner, but every prediction was wrong. Sergiy was outstanding on the grass court, and Roger didn’t have many options to stop Sergiy.
4. Roberta Vinci Defeated Serena Williams In U.S. Open In 2015
In tennis, Serena Williams is not a name as she is one of the best and most outstanding players in tennis history. Serena was away from one winning title to make her way on a calendar-year grand slam, i.e., U.S. Open, as she had already won the Australian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon. So, you can imagine how valuable the U.S. Open was for Serena.
In the semi-final of the U.S. Open, Roberta Vinci defeated Serena Williams, and every tennis fans were shocked; this was the biggest upset in tennis history. The reason is Serena had already defeated Vinci in Roger Cup two months before the semi-final of the U.S. Open, and everyone was familiar that Serena could easily win this game too as she was familiar with her moves the Roberta. But Vinci surprised everyone with his outstanding skills, speed, and moves.
5. Robin Soderling Defeated Rafael Nadal In French Open (2009)
In the era of 2009, Rafael Nadal had never got defeated by two tennis legends, i.e., Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer. During that year, Rafael Nadal was the four-time defending champion, and also, he never lost any match at Roland Garros. So, now you can understand why the defeat of Nadal was the biggest upset in tennis history.
If you see the track of Nadal in French Open, you will find the bagged 13 titles and lost only 3 matches in the tournament. Moving to the French Open 2009, Robin was a hard-hitting player who held 23 ranks faced the defending champion Nadal; and with his intelligent moves and tremendous tennis skills, he defeated Nadal in four sets, and if you go through the set result, it was, 6-2, 6-7, 6-4, and 7-6. The result shows that in every set, Robin was the best, and winning the match was a shock to the entire tennis fans.
6. Michael Chang Defeated Ivan Lendl In French Open (1989)
Michael Chang, an American player, was an underdog as he was just only 17-year-old and held 15 ranks in the tennis world. At that time, Lendl was a big name and a favorite for all, and most tennis fans predicted that it would be easy for Lendl to defeat the young boy. But Chang played an amazing game, especially the underarm serve, which shocked everyone, including Lendl. The defeat was shocking for everyone because Ivan Lendl was 3 times champion of the French Open and was in the leading spot at that time.
Bottom Line
In tennis history, there have been many upsets that shocked the tennis fans, such as the defeat of Serena Williams by Virginie Razzano in the French Open (2012); the defeat of Rafael Nadal by Steve Darcis in 2013 Wimbledon, and many more. These upsets in tennis history show that underdogs can change the entire game, so if you are involved in sports betting, never underestimate them as they can help you make a good profit. Furthermore, the sports bettors who predict that the favorites are going to crash are making good money, which means they prefer underdogs.
