Unprecedented number of Wimbledon upsets continues in second round 

A record-tying 23 seeded players (13 men and 10 women) failed to advance to the second round of the grass-court tournament at the All England Club in London, equaling the most in any Grand Slam tournament since they began seeding the top-32 players in each bracket in 2001.

Several factors have contributed to the unprecedented number of upsets at Wimbledon. The heat could be one of them. 

Europe is experiencing a heat wave, making it the continent's hottest June ever, according to World Weather Attribution. Temperatures in London skyrocketed to highs of 90 degrees Fahrenheit on Monday and 93 degrees Fahrenheit on Tuesday, per The Weather Channel.

Gauff pinned her first-round loss to Dayana Yastremska on her inability to refocus after winning the 2025 French Open on June 7. 

"I feel like mentally I was bit overwhelmed with everything that came afterwards," Gauff told the media Tuesday. "I didn't feel like I had enough time to celebrate and also get back into it." 

Paolini, meanwhile, lost a hard-fought match. She hit 23 winners in the match, but Rakhimova hit 26. 

"I try not to think about the opponent and try to focus on my game. It worked for me," Rakhimova said after the match, via Mattias Karen of the Associated Press. "I just pretend like I'm playing a normal girl, not the No. 4 in world."

According to ESPN, Wimbledon last had first-time singles champions in the men's and women's draws in 2023 (Carlos Alcaraz and Marketa Vondrousova). With the startling amount of upsets thus far, perhaps that'll happen again in 2025.