Wimbledon, June 24: Lleyton Hewitt, the number one seed, became only the second defending champion to fall at the first hurdle in Wimbledon’s 126-year history. Tim Henman should begin his Wimbledon challenge today with an extra spring in his step after the first round of the world’s most famous tennis tournament threw up this big shock.
Hewitt was defeated by Ivo Karlovic, a Croatian ranked more than 200 places below him, the first time a defending men’s champion has been knocked out in the first round since 1967.
The shock result means Hewitt will not be around to repeat his 2002 semi-final straight sets triumph over Henman, the British number one.
The opening of the tournament was characterised by heightened security checks, after a bomb hoax forced the evacuation of 4,500 fans at the women’s final of Hastings Direct Tournament at Eastbourne on Sunday. Bureau Report