US Open 2015 :: Kosarka ~ Odbojka ~ Tenis ~ Ostali sportovi

10. Karolina Sprem beats Venus Williams in Wimbledon 2nd round 2004

Venus Williams had reached the finals of Wimbledon for four straight years, winning half of them. But she fell to Sprem 7-6, 7-6 in a controversial match where Sprem was mistakenly awarded an extra point in the second set tiebreaker. While Williams went on to win Wimbledon the following year and claimed two more Venus Rosewater Dishes during her career, Sprem never had a career ranking higher than 17th and never made it past the fourth round of a major after reaching the quarterfinals of that tournament.

9. No. 2 Andrea Jaeger loses in 2nd round of 1981 US Open to unlisted Andrea Leand

Jaeger was the No. 2 seed in the 1981 US Open, yet she fell to 17-year-old Andrea Leand, who was a wild-card entry into the tournament. Leand was not even ranked in the computer’s printing of the top 261 women in the world. Though Jaeger started off well winning the first set 6-1, she dropped the next two and lost the match.

Jaeger had reached the semifinals at the US Open the previous year, and she made it to the semis of the tournament the following year. She also reached the semis at the Australian and the finals at the French Open in the two following tournaments, showing that she was at her peak when Leand beat her. And though Leand was a top junior, she never advanced beyond the fourth round of a major in her career.

8. Iva Majoli over Martina Hingis in 1997 French Open final

Hingis had won 37 straight matches entering her contest with Majoli, a 19-year-old Croatian, and the Swiss star was in the middle of her dominant run. She had become the youngest No. 1 player in the world in women’s history, and she had won the Australian Open. Yet she fell to Majoli in straight sets 6-4, 6-2 in a stunner.

After losing to Majoli, who became the lowest-seeded woman to win a Grand Slam in the Open era, Hingis went on to win Wimbledon and the US Open. Majoli’s upset prevented Hingis from capturing the calendar Grand Slam. This marked Majoli’s only career major. She never made it past the quarterfinals in another major.

7. Kathy Jordan upsets Chris Evert in 3rd round at Wimbledon 1983

Evert had reached at least the semifinals of every major she played in since 1971 — 34 in a row — prior to being upset by the unseeded Jordan at Wimbledon in ’83. Jordan was unseeded in the tournament, and she was the first non-top 10 player to defeat Evert in four years. Of course, Evert was reported to be ill prior to the match, which may have contributed to her straight set defeat. Evert reached 34 grand slam finals during her career, winning 18 of them. Jordan reached the finals of one major and the semis of another, but she never won a major during her career. Her win over Evert may have been the biggest of her career.

6. Sabine Lisicki stuns Serena Williams in 4th round of 2013 Wimbledon

When Serena loses early in a major, it often makes big news. And this was no exception.

Williams entered the match on a personal-best 34 match winning streak. After dropping the first set, she then won nine games in a row and appeared to be cruising up 3-0 in the third before Lisicki rallied to win four games to take the match. Williams had won three of the previous four Wimbledons prior to her upset loss. She also had won three of the previous four majors entering the tournament and then rebounded to win the US Open.

Lisicki reached the finals of Wimbledon that year, marking her best finish at a major. Though she plays well at Wimbledon and has reached the quarterfinals at the All-England Club five times during her career, she has never made it past the fourth round at any other major.

5. 129th-ranked Jelena Dokic beats No. 1 Martina Hingis at Wimbledon 1999

Martina Hingis was the No. 1 player in the world, while Jelena Dokic made it into the tournament as a qualifier and was ranked just 129th in the world. Yet Dokic mopped up the floor with Hingis, beating her 6-2, 6-0 in only 55 minutes. To show just how shocking this was, Hingis had beaten Dokic 6-1, 6-2 en route to winning the Australian Open. Dokic became the lowest-ranked player to defeat a top-seeded player at a grand slam in the Open era.

Dokic went on to reach the quarterfinals of Wimbledon that year and made the semis at the All-England Club the following year, but she only had marginal success the rest of her career. Hingis rebounded to reach the finals of the next two majors.

4. 15-year-old Chris Evert defeats world No. 1 Margaret Court in 1970

Margaret Court was the No. 1 player in the world and won the Grand Slam in 1970, meaning she captured all four majors. Yet 15-year-old Chris Evert defeated her 7-6, 7-6 at a clay court tournament in Charlotte. Court was at the pinnacle in the tennis world at the time, while Evert’s career was just starting. She played in her first career major at the US Open the following year and reached the semifinals at age 16. But well before that happened, she defeated the No. 1 player who was in the middle of one of the best years in tennis history, all when she was only 15 years old.

3. Lori McNeil stuns Steffi Graf in 1st round of Wimbledon 1994

Steffi Graf became the first defending champion in Wimbledon history to lose in the first round when she was stunned by Lori McNeil 7-5, 7-6 in 1994. Graf had won three straight Wimbledons, including 21 straight matches at the club prior to falling to McNeil, who was ranked 22nd at the time. Graf had reached at least the quarterfinals of every major she played since the US Open in 1985 prior to the upset. The last time she had lost in the first round of a major was the US Open in 1984, when she was 15 years old.

Graf won seven Wimbledon titles during her career, including the following two after suffering that upset. And though she lost in the finals of the US Open after the upset to McNeil, she won the next six majors in which she played.

McNeil went on to reach the semifinals of the tournament. She didn’t make it past the third round of any major thereafter, and she hadn’t advanced past the fourth round of any major in six years prior to the upset.

2. Serena Williams loses to No. 43 Roberta Vinci in semifinals of 2015 US Open

No. 43 Roberta Vinci pulled off the unthinkable when she defeated Serena Williams in the semifinals of the US Open. The upset ended Williams’ bid for the calendar Grand Slam. Williams was the reigning champion at all four majors, having won 33 straight matches at majors, including 26 in a row this year.

Though Williams was pushed to three sets by Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the third round and sister Venus Williams in the quarterfinals, nobody expected her to lose. Why would they? Serena had pulled out victories in all conditions and looked like an unstoppable force. But Vinci, who had never previously gotten past the fourth round at a major, proved that Serena indeed is human, as she knocked her out of the tournament and prevented Serena from joining Margaret Court and Steffi Graf as the only players to win a calendar Grand Slam.

1. Martina Navratilova loses to Kathy Horvath in 4th round of 1983 French Open

Martina Navratilova was absolutely dominating the tennis world when she lost to Kathy Horvath in the 4th round of the French Open in 1984. Prior to that defeat, Navratilova had won 36 straight matches, and 126 of 129 since the start of 1982. She had only lost seven total games in the six sets she had played at the tournament prior to losing to Horvath. Yet the 17-year-old Horvath stunned her in three sets, marking the first time in four meetings that she had won a set off Navratilova, much less won a match. Navratilova won her final 50 matches that year and also won the next seven matches she played against Horvath.

Horvath was ranked No. 45 in the world at that point.

“That day, I was feeling the ball perfectly,” Horvath remembered. “I felt confident I could keep her off the net. Maybe that’s why she was tight, because she couldn’t come in like she usually did. She’d hit an approach and then hesitate because she was too far back.”