Wimbledon Upsets: Top Seeds Tumble, Open Path for Favorites

Early exits shake up the brackets at the All England Club

Wimbledon 2025 has already seen significant upsets, with several top seeds falling early. This has created opportunities for remaining contenders as the tournament progresses into the later rounds.

Men’s Singles Shake-Up

Five of the top 10 men’s singles seeds have been eliminated, including No. 4 seed Jack Draper, who struggled against veteran Marin Cilic. Cilic dominated the first two sets, continuing Draper’s poor record at his home Grand Slam; he has failed to advance beyond the second round in his last four attempts. The early departures have significantly altered the landscape for No. 1 seed Jannik Sinner and No. 2 seed Carlos Alcaraz, making them heavy favorites at +150 and +115, respectively.

Women’s Draw Opens Up

On the women’s side, No. 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka remains a dominant force after easily defeating Marie Bouzkova. Her path to the final has been eased by the exits of No. 2 seed Coco Gauff, No. 3 seed Jessica Pegula, and No. 4 seed Jasmine Paolini. However, Sabalenka still faces tough competition from 2025 Australian Open champion Madison Keys and five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek.

Interestingly, the number of top 10 seeds that reach the quarterfinals has decreased in recent years, with only 40% of them doing so at Grand Slam events since 2020 (Tennis.com).

Friday’s Key Matches

Third-round action continues Friday with several high-profile matches. Carlos Alcaraz will face Jan-Lennard Struff, who previously upset No. 25 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime. Top-ranked American Taylor Fritz will have a challenging match against No. 26 seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

Women’s Matches to Watch

Aryna Sabalenka will compete against hometown favorite Emma Raducanu. Madison Keys is also set to play Laura Siegemund. Keys has reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals twice in her 12 appearances; a victory Friday would advance her to the fourth round, where she was eliminated last year.

Remaining Third-Round Matches

Men’s matches include: Jannik Sinner vs. Pedro Martinez, Grigor Dimitrov vs. Sebastian Ofner, Ben Shelton vs. Marton Fucsovics, Marin Cilic vs. Jaume Munar, and Novak Djokovic vs. Miromir Kecmanovic, among others.

Women’s matches also feature Elina Svitolina vs. Elise Mertens, Madison Keys vs. Laura Siegemund, Linda Noskova vs. Kamilia Rakhimova, and Iga Swiatek vs. Danielle Collins, among others.