America's best hope in Wimbledon men's draw falls in first-round stunner

The top-ranked American in the Wimbledon men's draw is already out of the tournament.

On Tuesday, No. 4 seed Ben Shelton, the highest-ranked American at Wimbledon since Andy Roddick (No. 3, 2007), fell to world No. 140 Otto Virtanen in a five-set stunner, 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 6-2, 7-6. He dropped the match's final three points, going from having a match point in the fifth-set tiebreak to exiting the All England Club in the opening round for the first time in four tournament appearances.

Stunning Ben Shelton result hard to see coming

Just two weeks ago, Shelton claimed his first grass court title by defeating fellow American Taylor Fritz, Wimbledon's No. 6 seed, at Stuttgart in the Boss Open final for his first grass-court title, raising expectations heading into Wimbledon. He had also had progressively better finishes at the year's third grand slam over the past three years, reaching the quarterfinals last year after exiting in the Round of 16 and Round of 64 in 2024 and 2023, respectively.

Instead, he experienced a historic first-round loss as Virtanen became the first Finnish man to beat a top-five seed at a grand slam even in the Open Era, per ESPN Insights.