Qualifier Otto Virtanen Ousts No. 4 Ben Shelton in 5 Sets at Wimbledon
Updated
Updated · ESPN · Jun 30
Qualifier Otto Virtanen Ousts No. 4 Ben Shelton in 5 Sets at Wimbledon
3 articles · Updated · ESPN · Jun 30
Summary
6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (8), 6-2, 7-6 (9) sent fourth-seeded Ben Shelton out in the Wimbledon first round, his first opening-match loss at the All England Club.
A 10-point fifth-set tiebreak decided it after 4 hours, 21 minutes: Shelton led 8-5, held match point at 9-8, then made an unforced error and dropped the final two points.
Otto Virtanen, a 25-year-old qualifier ranked No. 140, called on a strong month of grass-court matches to earn the biggest win of his career.
Shelton said it was "one of the toughest losses of my career," but added he did not think he played poorly and expects to return to practice within days.