Czech Lukas Rosol beat second seed Rafa Nadal 6-7 6-4 6-4 2-6 6-4 in the Wimbledon second round to complete one of the biggest ever upsets.
The world number 100, making his Wimbledon debut, overpowered the Spanish second seed who was seeking his third title at the All England Club with an inspired display on Centre Court.
"I never expected something like this," Rosol said. "I am very sorry for him but I hope I can play one more match like this. I played my best match ever. It means so much for me."
Nadal looked on course to reach the third round in routine fashion when he came through a marathon first-set tiebreak 11-9.
But Rosol, who has never gone beyond the third round of a grand slam, broke serve in the opening game of the second set and stunned Nadal with a succession of inspired winners from all over the court.
Nadal was powerless to stem the tide and was clearly upset by the 26-year-old Czech's aggressive style but he dug in to break serve at the start of the fourth set and repeated the feat to level at two sets all.
Officials decided to close the Centre Court roof to enable the match to be finished. After a half-hour delay the players returned and Rosol immediately broke Nadal's serve.
He continued to subject the world number two to a barrage of aces and outrageous winners to set up a third-round match against German Philipp Kohlschreiber.
It was the first time Nadal had lost before the third round of a grand slam since he was beaten by Gilles Mueller in the second round at Wimbledon in 2005.
"He played more than unbelievable, tThat's fine, before the first three sets I di not play well." Nadal said added all he could now is to go back home and rest.
Britain's Andy Murray faced an all-out assault from massive- serving Croat Ivo Karlovic before booking his place in the Wimbledon third round with a 7-5 6-7 6-2 7-6 victory.
The number four seed struggled to get a handle on the Karlovic serve with 17 aces flying past him and the 2.08 metre Croat also volleyed well to frustrate Murray.
After claiming the first set, Murray was unable to find a way to upset the Karlovic serve in the second and was pegged back in a tiebreak.
He broke twice in the third set and closed out the match in a second tiebreak to advance to a third-round match against Marcos Baghdatis or Grigor Dimitrov.
The world number 100, making his Wimbledon debut, overpowered the Spanish second seed who was seeking his third title at the All England Club with an inspired display on Centre Court.
"Still don't know, so many emotion, I don't expect that I can win you know," Rosol said. "I am sorry for Rafa but I thought today I was somebody else and I am really happy for this you know. I still can find the words, I still don't believe it. It is just like a dream for me."
Nadal looked on course to reach the third round in routine fashion when he came through a marathon first-set tiebreak 11-9.
But Rosol, who has never gone beyond the third round of a grand slam, broke serve in the opening game of the second set and stunned Nadal with a succession of inspired winners from all over the court.
Nadal was powerless to stem the tide and was clearly upset by the 26-year-old Czech's aggressive style but he dug in to break serve at the start of the fourth set and repeated the feat to level at two sets all.
Officials decided to close the Centre Court roof to enable the match to be finished. After a half-hour delay the players returned and Rosol immediately broke Nadal's serve.
He continued to subject the world number two to a barrage of aces and outrageous winners to set up a third-round match against German Philipp Kohlschreiber.
It was the first time Nadal had lost before the third round of a grand slam since he was beaten by Gilles Mueller in the second round at Wimbledon in 2005.
"He played more than unbelievable, that's fine, before the first three sets I did not play well." Nadal said added all he could now is to go back home and rest.
Reuters