Opportunity Missed: Fourth-Seeded Shelton Falls to Virtanen on Day 2 at Wimbledon

Ben Shelton entered this year’s Wimbledon men’s singles draw as the highest-seeded American man since 2007.

He’s out already.

The No.4 seed lost a heartbreaker to Finnish qualifier Otto Virtanen on Day 2, 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(8), 6-2, 7-6(9).

Asked how his heart rate was after the match, Virtanen said after a dramatic finish that saw him save a match point at 9-8 down in the match tiebreak: “I don’t know if I have a heart anymore. It probably bounced out of my body, but I’m here – I played until the last point.”

It’s a tough pill to swallow for Shelton, who suffers his third first-round loss at a major.

The 23-year-old falls to 8-4 lifetime at Wimbledon. He entered the contest with a perfect 4-0 record in five-set matches at the All England Club.

Shelton had two break points with Virtanen serving at 2-3, 15-40 in the deciding set, and again at 3-4, 15-40, but couldn’t convert. Later he had a match point in the match tiebreak, after leading 8-5. He ultimately fell in the tournament’s longest match so far, a four-hour, 21-minute marathon decided by a final-set tiebreak.

Virtanen blasted 14 aces and 60 winners while saving 11 of 12 break points.

The Finn became the first man from his country to defeat a Top 5 seed at a Grand Slam in the Open Era.

“It definitely means a lot to me,” Virtanen said. “To get a big win on a big court in my favorite place.”

Shelton was broken three times and actually won a lower percentage of both first- and second-serve points than Virtanen.

“Opportunity missed for Ben Shelton,” Andy Roddick said on ESPN. “Had control of that tiebreak, up 8-5 and couldn’t convert. There’s going to probably be a lot of regret and a lot of reflection – the bottom half of the draw was pretty open. We know that Carlos Alcaraz is not here, Alexander Zverev, who won Roland Garros recently, this is his least favorite surface. There was a real opportunity for Ben to make a major move here at this tournament.”

Virtanen earns just his second career Wimbledon main-draw victory. In addition to qualifying, he reached two Challenger finals on grass in the lead-up to the Championships.

He will face Great Britain’s Arthur Fery in the second round.