ATP's 5 Biggest Grand Slam Upsets of 2017

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1. Denis Istomin d. Novak Djokovic 7-6,5-7,2-6,7-6,6-4 in 2nd round of Australian Open.

2. Mischa Zverev d. Andy Murray 7-5,5-7,6-2,6-4 in 4th round of Australian Open.

3. Fernando Verdasco d. Alexander Zverev 6-3,3-6,6-4,6-2 in 1st round of French Open.

4. Daniil Medvedev d. Stan Wawrinka 6-4,3-6,6-4,6-1 in 1st round of Wimbledon.

5. Andrey Rublev d. Grigor Dimitrov 7-5,7-6,6-3 in 2nd round of US Open.


As we can see, an upset was registered at every single Slam in 2017 with the 2 biggest occurring at the AO and 1 each at the other 3.

Players who are either Russian or of Russian parentage figured in all 5 of these upsets with the younger Zverev being the only one who was the victim of the upset rather than the upsetter.

Only 1 of these upsets (the biggest) went the whole distance and only 1 of them (the last ranked) was a straight setter.

Thoughts?

http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/top-5-grand-slam-upsets-2017

 

[True Fanerer]

Istomin beating Djokovic blew it wide open! Fed and Nadal fans like

 

[Sean Oberhauser]

Alexander Zverev choked in every slam... shame. His older brother on the other hand, had a couple of great matches and started the year strong beating Murray.
Wawrinkas loss at Wimbledon was saddening, I'm rooting for him to get a career grand slam though, one can still hope for a miraculous Federer like comeback.

 

[True Fanerer]

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[Deleted member 756514]

AO final : Federer defeating Nadal at a Best of 5 match, that too in a grand slam final after 10 years. An upset for me.

 

[junior74]

Someone beating Dimitrov is now an upset? No way, he has been doing that his entire career, his #3 ranking doesn't change that

Medvedev - Wawrinka? Stan could barely walk towards the end, and went straight to the clinic for surgery... Strange pick

 

[Aussie Darcy]

Hilarious that any slam match with Zverev losing is an upset... dude can't make a slam QF, his slam losses are frequent and usually bad.

 

[MugOpponent]

Zverev losing to a competent and experienced opponent in a best of five isn't that surprising.

 

[Red Rick]

Last 3 are hilarious and not even close.

I'd say Querrey and Muller beating Murray and Nadal at Wimbledon are bigger than those 3.

Murray's withdrawal at the USO was a huge upset too.

 

[SQA333]

Hilarious that any slam match with Zverev losing is an upset... dude can't make a slam QF, his slam losses are frequent and usually bad.

They often involve a racquet break or two as well...

 

[merwy]

Wawrinka loses to lesser players so often that it can hardly be called an upset anymore

 

[every7]

1. Denis Istomin d. Novak Djokovic 7-6,5-7,2-6,7-6,6-4 in 2nd round of Australian Open.

2. Mischa Zverev d. Andy Murray 7-5,5-7,6-2,6-4 in 4th round of Australian Open.

3. Fernando Verdasco d. Alexander Zverev 6-3,3-6,6-4,6-2 in 1st round of French Open.

4. Daniil Medvedev d. Stan Wawrinka 6-4,3-6,6-4,6-1 in 1st round of Wimbledon.

5. Andrey Rublev d. Grigor Dimitrov 7-5,7-6,6-3 in 2nd round of US Open.


As we can see, an upset was registered at every single Slam in 2017 with the 2 biggest occurring at the AO and 1 each at the other 3.

Players who are either Russian or of Russian parentage figured in all 5 of these upsets with the younger Zverev being the only one who was the victim of the upset rather than the upsetter.

Only 1 of these upsets (the biggest) went the whole distance and only 1 of them (the last ranked) was a straight setter.

Thoughts?

http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/top-5-grand-slam-upsets-2017

Very good list.

The only one I don't like is listing Alex Zverev there. Verdasco is a better grand slam player still than Zverev and excellent claycourter so it's not such a shock.

The two we are all looking at is of course Djokovic and Murray losing at AO. This was a big and extremely shocking results at the time. The classic upset and both these matches were real circuit breakers. For me I didn't notice an implosion on Murray or Djokovic's part, I was enjoying the stunning plays of Istomin and Zverev.

Mischa's busy Australian Open, capitalizing on the faster courts was one of the highlights of 2017 imo. Would love to see his style showcased at another big tournament next year.

 

[every7]

They often involve a racquet break or two as well...

Also disrespects to the opponent sometimes, too.

 

[MeatTornado]

Hilarious that any slam match with Zverev losing is an upset... dude can't make a slam QF, his slam losses are frequent and usually bad.

I make fun of the Zverev hype as much as anyone, but keep in mind a couple things:

1) RG was right on the heels of his breakthrough win in Rome. Nobody expected a 1st round exit.

2) His early upsets in Wimbledon & USO make the RG loss look less surprising in hindsight, but that doesn't change how big a story it was at the time. We didn't know that "his slam losses are frequent and usually bad" yet. The slam before RG he took Rafa to 5 sets in the 2nd round. Everyone was expecting him to build on that going forward.

 

[aman92]

Roger Federer def Rafael Nadal- Aus Open 2017. I was very upset after that match

 

[Russeljones]

Contrived. Ferdasco beating Zverev in a best of 5 should not be counted as an upset. Same with Grigor looking early at the USO.

 

[mike danny]

So in other words, Nadal losing early at Wimb is not counted as an upset anymore even by the ATP guys themselves.

 

[AnOctorokForDinner]

My picks would be:

1. Zverev Sr. def Mury AO - an unseeded s&ver besting Mandy at the AO?! Improbable!
2. IstoGOAT def Djovak AO - we knew that Djoker was struggling and Denis is one of those lower-ranked aggressive players capable of a really high peak, but an upset in five sets was still almost as improbable as Mury's.
3. Rublev def Dimidroll USO - Droll seemed on a run, while Rublev had stagnated after early promises, though there were some better results recently. The fact that Grishka didn't just lose, but failed to win a set, adds to the awesomeness.
4. Thiem def ******** RG - Djokovic losing was not *so* surprising, despite him having destroyed Thiemug in Rome weeks earlier, but eating a 3rd set bagel was completely unexpected. He seemed to quit on court.
5. Müller def Nadoll WIM - Nadal losing before QF once again is not upsetting, but the fact that Gillesbot did it by outlasting Fightdal 15-13 in the 5th makes it that much bigger.

 

[AnOctorokForDinner]

DOUBLE POST (I didn't click twice, literally two posts instead of one!)

 

[mike danny]

My picks would be:

1. Zverev Sr. def Mury AO - an unseeded s&ver besting Mandy at the AO?! Improbable!
2. IstoGOAT def Djovak AO - we knew that Djoker was struggling and Denis is one of those lower-ranked aggressive players capable of a really high peak, but an upset in five sets was still almost as improbable as Mury's.
3. Rublev def Dimidroll USO - Droll seemed on a run, while Rublev had stagnated after early promises, though there were some better results recently. The fact that Grishka didn't just lose, but failed to win a set, adds to the awesomeness.
4. Thiem def ******** RG - Djokovic losing was not *so* surprising, despite him having destroyed Thiemug in Rome weeks earlier, but eating a 3rd set bagel was completely unexpected. He seemed to quit on court.
5. Müller def Nadoll WIM - Nadal losing before QF once again is not upsetting, but the fact that Gillesbot did it by outlasting Fightdal 15-13 in the 5th makes it that much bigger.

Djokovic losing to Thiem that day was his lowest of lows. Just like Federer losing to Robredo at the USO and Nadal losing to Fognini at the USO.