Ranking the Biggest Surprises at the 2015 Wimbledon So Far

Wimbledon 2015 has barely completed its first week, and there are already a number of surprises worth examining.

Gone are several of the favorites expected to advance far in this tournament. Looking at you, Rafael Nadal and Simona Halep. And what is up with Eugenie Bouchard? And for entirely different reasons, what is up with the American women?

Speaking of the American women, the only bets to reach Week 2 with any degree of favoritism were Serena Williams and Madison Keys. But now we see Coco Vandeweghe claw into Week 2 and Bethanie Mattek-Sands upset a high seed in the second round.

Sadly for many on this list, they are Wimble-done, but for others, they’re into the second week for a chance at winning the year’s third Grand Slam.

Read on for surprises from Week 1.

8. No. 5 Seed Kei Nishikori Suffers Calf Injury

Pavel Golovkin/Associated Press

If there’s a player who will be the resident buzzing mosquito in the ears of the game’s elite, it will be Kei Nishikori.

In point of fact, Nishikoria already has been one of the more nimble and pesky players on tour, pushing players such as Stan Wawrinka and Novak Djokovic to the threshold of their abilities.

So it was a surprise to find that Nishikori only played one match at this year’s Wimbledon before withdrawing with a calf injury. In so doing, Nishikori handed Columbia’s Santiago Giraldo a walkover win into the third round

"It got better before the first match, and I thought it was going to be OK, but in the last match, in the fifth set, I was hurting too much," Nishikori said of the injury, according to the Guardian. "I decided not to play today. It’s not a big injury, just a little tear. It’s very disappointing. I thought I was playing well on grass. I’m unfortunate to lose this chance."

Nishikori reached the semifinals, where he ultimately retired to Andreas Seppi, at the Gerry Weber Open in Germany, so his grass form was, as he said, admirable.

The 2014 U.S. Open was where he made a name for himself, and he should heal up fine for another run in New York. That is the hope, at least.

7. Coco Vandeweghe Moves into the Second Week

Tim Ireland/Associated Press

When it comes to the American women, we’re used to seeing Serena Williams into the second week. Beyond that, it’s a crapshoot.

When looking at a player such as Coco Vandeweghe, she doesn’t have second-week pedigree, but she managed to reach the fourth round by defeating No. 22 seed Samantha Stosur.

Vandeweghe had never advanced beyond the third round at a major tournament until this year’s Australian Open. At Wimbledon, she could not have been more impressive against Stosur, a former U.S. Open champion.

The American sizzled at the net, winning 80 percent of her points to Stosur’s 46. Couple that with Stosur’s inability to win a second-service point, and it added up to a miserable day for her and a supersized win for Vandeweghe.

As a result, Vandeweghe improved to 2-1 against Stosur, extending her win streak to two after knocking her out of the Australian Open.

It is encouraging to see Vandeweghe club her way into the fourth round, joining a player such as Madison Keys, as someone now blooming on the big stage.

6. Nick Kyrgios Disposes of Milos Raonic

Tim Ireland/Associated Press

Milos Raonic was seeded ninth at Wimbledon, one spot ahead of the legendary Rafael Nadal. Raonic, like Nadal, was met with an earlier-than-forecasted exit from the All England Club, as he lost to Australian spark plug and No. 26 seed Nick Kyrgios, 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (3), 6-3, in the third round.

It all hinged on the ace. Kyrgios drilled 34 and rode that to win 84 percent of his first-serve points.

John Newcombe, a three-time Wimbledon champion, said on BBC Sport: "Nick is an exceptional talent, and he doesn't beat to the same drum as everyone else—he's a real individual. Some media people will take the little negative things and build them into big issues, rather than looking at more positive things, which far outweigh the negative things."

Raonic was a 2014 Wimbledon semifinalist, and Kyrgios overpowered Raonic as if he were a first-round qualifier.

“I don’t fear anyone,” Kyrgios said in Piers Newbery’s BBC Sports story.

Kyrgios better keep up that bravado since he could face 2015 French Open champ Stan Wawrinka in the quarterfinals and last year’s defending Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic in the semis.

5. No. 158 Bethanie Mattek-Sands Slays No. 7 Ana Ivanovic

Alastair Grant/Associated Press

Bethanie Mattek-Sands, ranked No. 158 on the tour, stared down No. 7 Ana Ivanovic and won in straight sets in the second round.

When one thinks of American women’s tennis, Mattek-Sands’ name rarely, if ever, comes up. In fact, she’s more known for some of her outrageous outfits—not her ability to blister winners at twice the rate of her opponent.

Ivanovic, the 2008 French Open champ, had little against this American upstart. Perhaps she overlooked Mattek-Sands, who had been shelved for six months following hip surgery.

A win of this magnitude promises to vault her up the world rankings, especially given that Simona Halep and Eugenie Bouchard lost in the first round.

“Being out for six months, having hip surgery, gave me a perspective on playing,” Mattek-Sands said, according to Tim Lewis of the Guardian. “Last year, I was watching these matches at home on television.”

She would go on to lose in the third round to No. 120 Shahar Peer in a battle of women ranked deep into the 100s, but it was Mattek-Sands’ effort against Ivanovic that was one of the bigger surprises of the first week.

4. Round 26 for the Williams Sisters

Tim Ireland/Associated Press

The Williams sisters face each other yet again. This is their 12th time in a Grand Slam and 26th time overall.

It’s a surprise to see them against each other at this point in their careers. Yes, Serena Williams is still rolling through the world and taking no prisoners. The real surprise is Venus Williams reaching the fourth round.

The best days for her are long gone. She hasn’t reached the fourth round at Wimbledon since 2011 and never advanced beyond the third round in any single Grand Slam in 2014.

Venus reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open (a surprise unto itself) but then lost in the first round in the French Open.

Venus hasn’t defeated Serena at Wimbledon since 2000, and, as previously stated, their games are driving in opposite directions. It’ll make for good television to see these two square off, but Serena is in the middle of a historic run to win all four major tournaments, and she’s not about to let her big sister spoil the Serena Slam.

3. No Second Week for Rafael Nadal

Kirsty Wigglesworth/Associated Press

Rafael Nadal is too good a tennis player to play this poorly at Wimbledon. His last four trips have seen him advance no further than the fourth round, and 2015 was no different.

Qualifier Dustin Brown set Nadal down 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. That's qualifier Dustin Brown.

"You have to play your A game against him," Brown told BBC Sport. "I am fortunate I played him twice on grass, which is my favourite surface. My game makes him not play his game. He doesn't get in a rhythm."

For Nadal, his biggest fears on this grass don’t come from Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka or Roger Federer but from anonymous players with triple-digit rankings. Each of Nadal’s past four losses has come at the scrappy hands of players ranked 100 in the world or lower.

So, in theory, maybe this is no shock at all, but as BBC Sports’ Tom Bordyce puts it, it still is: "And yet. For all that we should be used to the sight of the once invulnerable giant of the game reduced to the role of ancient monument to be repeatedly defaced, there is still fresh astonishment in watching it happen once again."

Any time a 14-time Grand Slam winner exits Wimbledon before the second Monday is a surprise—no matter what recent history suggests.

2. Simona Halep Trumped in First Round

Kirsty Wigglesworth/Associated Press

No. 3 seed Simona Halep’s troubles look as if they don’t end on the tennis court. As if losing in the first round of Wimbledon, where she was a semifinalist a year ago, weren’t bad enough, Halep apparently received a lot of criticism from her home country, Romania.

“It is difficult to go back now," Halep said in Luke Brown’s Telegraph story. "I often go back to Romania after tournaments, but today I was thinking of maybe not doing that. Now I want to see what choices I have in going on holiday. I want to go away.”

How many pure stars are there from Romania? Some players must shoulder the weight, promises and expectations of an entire nation, and it appears Halep is the sole flag bearer of every athletic hope in this east European country.

So when Halep sprayed 34 unforced errors and won just 30 percent of her first-serve points while losing to Jana Cepelova, it affected Halep in far more sobering ways:

"

At first I was surprised by the bad reactions, but now I am used to hearing bad things about me in Romania. It is not really a problem for me anymore, and I do not care about the things that people are saying. They can say their bad things about me, because I know how hard I am working every day. So I do not have to explain myself or what I am doing.

"

Halep has the kind of makeup to rebound. She, like Eugenie Bouchard, has fallen flat compared to her runs through tournaments in 2014.

Hopefully, Halep's game picks up in the following weeks.

1. Eugenie Bouchard Bounced from First Round

Pavel Golovkin/Associated Press

All the surprises to date all cede to Eugenie Bouchard’s upsetting exit from the All England Club in the first round. This, sadly, has become a trend in 2015 for Bouchard.

With 10 double-faults and an inability to win on second serve, Bouchard was outdueled by Ying-Ying Duan, 7-6 (3), 6-4.

Bouchard now has as many first-match exits from tournaments this year as she does wins on the entire season (eight). All this from someone who made three straight trips to the semifinals in Grand Slams in 2014.

It made Bleacher Report’s Joe Kennard wonder if Bouchard has already peaked: “Bouchard could emerge stronger and more resilient because of these struggles. Or she could fade away like Melanie Oudin and countless other one-year wonders.”

The National Post's Scott Stinson reported that Bouchard has an abdominal injury, which can sap any torsional power from a player’s game. Bouchard relies on explosion and strength, and if her trunk muscles are hurt, then perhaps she has a valid excuse for her disheartening tennis. 

Injuries of that nature need time to heal.

She has too much talent to play this poorly for this long. It’s hard to believe that, at age 21, her best tennis may, in some small way, be behind her.