Two major shocks hit the 133^rd edition of the Championships on the opening day which saw two of the possible title contenders ousted in dramatic fashion within minutes of each other. And their losses are a blow to the NextGen challenge as both were expected to provide the strongest challenge to break the stranglehold of the Big Three.

The pressure was a little bit on him, but he won the first set and then I started to play. I had nothing to lose anymore Jiri Vesely

The Greek seventh seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, tipped by many pundits as a potential Wimbledon champion, was sent crashing out at the first hurdle losing 6-4 3-6 6-4 6-7(8) 6-3 to the world number 89 Thomas Fabbiano of Italy who next faces 40-year-old Ivo Karlovic.

Tsitsipas had reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open in January and the last-16 at Roland Garros as well as the fourth round at Wimbledon last year,.

He was joined the sixth seed Alexander Zverev who was unable to get past a very determined Jiri Vesely the world No,124 who this year had to come through the qualifying competition. The Czech progressed into the second round 4-6 6-3 6-2 7-5.

“Overall, I think I played an unbelievable match without many mistakes,” said Vesely. “I was playing really well, serving good and trying to go to the net. The pressure was a little bit on him, but he won the first set and then I started to play. I had nothing to lose anymore.

“After the second set the pressure came back on him. I tried to force it and all of a sudden I was two sets to one up. I think I have done really well today.”