FEDERER, DJOKOVIC AVOID THE UPSET BUG AT WIMBLEDON, DEL POTRO GOES DOWN TO GULBIS

There will be no Novak Djokovic vs. Juan Martin Del Potro tussle during third-round action at Wimbledon this weekend. Nor does Grigor Dimitrov have a showdown with John Isner on his plate. How ’bout Alexander Zverev vs. Jack Sock? No sir; not that one, either.

Surprises reigned supreme at the All-England Club on Thursday. While Djokovic and Roger Federer remained unscathed without any trouble of any kind, Del Potro, Isner, and Sock all fell by the wayside.

It started with Isner blowing a bigtime opportunity against an opponent who stands more than a foot shorter than he does. The 6’10” American had been 4-0 lifetime at 5’9” Israeli Dudi Sela’s expense prior to this one and more of the same appeared to be in store when Isner bagged the first set in a tiebreaker and again when he regained his one-set edge by taking the third 7-5. After Sela survived the fourth in another tiebreaker, though, one break in the decider was enough for the diminutive underdog to triumph 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 5-7, 7-6(5), 6-3.

“It’s all between the ears, I think,” Isner explained. “I had opportunities, of course. When I don’t go for it, bad things happen. That was the case throughout the whole match: me not going for it. That’s why I lost.”

Del Potro lost because he ran into a resurgent foe in Ernests Gulbis. Gulbis, who has plunged to No. 589 in the rankings because of both physical problems and poor play, powered his way to a 6-4, 6-4, 7-6(3) success. Prior to clobbering Victor Estrella Burgos 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 in his Wimbledon opener, the Latvian had not won an ATP-level match since the 2016 French Open.

“I played well my first-round match,” Gulbis assessed. “This match I played really, really great tennis. I served well; I returned well. In my opinion, Del Potro is one of the best players. I mean, for sure he has one of the best forehands. He’s really tough to beat.”

“I [didn’t] have my best day on court,” Del Potro admitted. “And he played really well. He served so strong all the time. I couldn’t break his serve (except once) during three sets. I think he’s a very dangerous opponent to play on grass, and he did much better than me today.”

Jack Sock joined Del Potro and Isner on the sideline following a setback certainly more stunning than the Isner vs. Sela result and perhaps even more shocking than the Del Potro vs. Gulbis outcome. The 18th-ranked American fell to 217th-ranked Austrian Sebastian Ofner 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 6-2. Ofner, who qualified for the main draw, had never contested a single ATP-level match prior to this tournament.

Djokovic and Federer, meanwhile, are still going strong. Via a 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 decision against Adam Pavlasek, Djokovic cruised into the last 32. Federer joined him there by beating Dusan Lajovic 7-6(0), 6-3, 6-2.

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on twitter at @Dimonator.