The performance of Arthur Rinderknech, the French tennis player who eliminated world number 3, Alexander Zverev, at Wimbledon

It's not good to be a member of the world's top 10 at the start of the week at Wimbledon. In the men's draw, the favorites are dropping like flies on the grass of the British Grand Slam tournament. After the elimination of Denmark's Holger Rune (world ^number 8) and Russia's Daniil Medvedev ( ⁹ ), and Italy's Lorenzo Musetti ( ⁷ ) ^on Tuesday, July 1, German world number 3 Alexander Zverev saw his stay in the London region cut short. The three-time Grand Slam finalist lost in the first round to Arthur Rinderknech, 29 years old and world ^number 72. A major performance for the Frenchman, spanning two days due to the 11 p.m. curfew (7-6 [7-3], 6-7 [8-10], 6-3, 6-7 [5-7], 6-4).

" My legs are still shaking, I only slept six hours last night," reacted the winner, visibly moved, in his post-match interview. "This sport is tough, but what a great moment! It's my first victory against a top 5 [in the world] , on the most beautiful court in the world," said the Frenchman, who has been coached since the start of the grass season by former world number 10 Lucas Pouille, who was present in his box.

Although it lasted four hours and forty minutes, the match stretched over two days, like the duel of service shooters between Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard and Taylor Fritz (seeded number 5). But, unlike his young compatriot, who lost at the last minute on Tuesday, the match, interrupted at one set each on Monday, smiled on Arthur Rinderknech.

Against the German and his three Grand Slam tournament finalist records, Arthur Rinderknech played the boss on the court. More offensive than the former standard-bearer of the ex-"Next Gen" supposed to succeed the "Big 3" formed by Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer, the Frenchman most often dictated the tempo of the rallies, relying on his serve and a slapped forehand. At Wimbledon, the one who advances the furthest up the court is generally rewarded, and Arthur Rinderknech was able to prove this in turn against a timid and overly passive opponent. With authority, the world number 72 saved nine break points in the match.

A finalist at the ATP 250 tournament in Stuttgart, Germany, and a semi-finalist at the ATP 500 in Halle, Germany, in June, Alexander Zverev had not lost in the first round of a Grand Slam since Wimbledon in 2019. The London tournament is the only one of the four Grand Slam tournaments in which the German has yet to reach the final.

Trained in the American university system, Arthur Rinderknech enjoys a good fight. And while it took him a while in his career to get the better of a member of the world's top five—he only beat a top 10 player for the first time at the recent Queen's tournament in London, against American Ben Shelton ( ^ranked 10) two weeks ago—he chose the place and the date. In the first round of one of the biggest tournaments in the world, and arguably on the most prestigious tennis court on the planet.

A strong performance that could give him ideas for the rest of the competition on the English grass. On Wednesday, he will face Chilean Cristian Garin (world ^number 110) in the second round, who defeated Luxembourg's Chris Rodesch in three sets on Monday. And, while the French were highlighted at the end of the week for the complicated draw at Wimbledon, many of whom were drawn against seeded players, now the draw is opening up, with the eliminations one after the other of members of the world's top 10.