Reilly Opelka caused a big upset on Wednesday at The Championships when he knocked out two-time former quarter-finalist Stan Wawrinka.

The American, who is making his debut this week at Wimbledon, recorded a 7-5, 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 8-6 victory over No. 22 Wawrinka in three hours and 13 minutes on No. 2 Court.

Opelka, who saved one break point at 6-6, 30/40, struck 59 winners that included 23 aces, and won 20 of his 33 serve and volley points for a place in his first Grand Slam championship third round. Wawrinka committed 30 unforced errors, 21 of which came in the fourth and fifth sets.

It was Opelka’s first five-set win (1-2) and Wawrinka was playing in his 49th five-setter (27-22), second among active players only behind his fellow Swiss Roger Federer (51). Wawrinka is now 1-5 lifetime in five-setters at Wimbledon, winning his first in the 2006 first round against Croatia’s Ivo Karlovic.

The 21-year-old Opelka, who captured his first ATP Tour title in February at the New York Open (d. Schnur), will now challenge Canada’s Milos Raonic, the No. 15 seed and 2015 finalist (l. to Murray).

“You know you’re not going to have a lot of chances to break,” said Wawrinka. “But I think it was a tough match to lose, that’s for sure. I had some chances. I start a little bit slow. I was hesitating a bit, not really moving well enough. I started to play way better, I had some chance in the fourth set… At the end he went for it. He went bigger than me and he deserve to win.”

Wawrinka, who had employed Daniel Vallverdu to work alongside his regular coach Magnus Norman during the grass-court swing, is now 21-14 on the year that includes a run to last month’s Roland Garros quarter-finals (l. to Federer).

Raonic dominated on serve, hitting 32 aces, to beat Dutchman Robin Haase 7-6(1), 7-5, 7-6(4) in two hours and 33 minutes. It was the pair’s first meeting since October 2013 at the Rolex Paris Masters.

Fabio Fognini received a double dose of good news on Tuesday at Wimbledon. First, the Italian fought past #NextGenATP American Frances Tiafoe 5-7, 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 to advance to the second round at SW19.

Later, the 32-year-old was honoured and presented with an ATP Tour trophy for cracking the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings for the first time on 10 June.

Fognini, No. 10, became the oldest player to break into the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings for the first time since 38-year-old Ken Rosewall and 35-year-old Rod Laver on 23 August 1973, when the ATP Rankings were first established. Fognini is just the third Italian man to join the elite group, along with Adriano Panatta and Corrado Barazzutti. Fognini will next face Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics.

Talk about star power! Andy Murray and Serena Williams dropped a bombshell on Tuesday by announcing that they’ll compete together in the mixed doubles draw at Wimbledon.

They’ve created plenty of magic over the years at The All England Club, combining for nine singles titles. Serena also has six women’s doubles title with sister Venus Williams and won the mixed doubles title in 1998 (w/Mirnyi). Murray last played mixed doubles at this event with Kirsten Flipkens in 2006.

“We’re a lot alike on the court. I’ve always liked that about him,” said Williams. “His work ethic is off the charts. That’s something I’ve always respected about him. His fitness, everything. To do what he’s done in an era where there are so many other great male tennis players, so much competition, to rise above it, not many people have done it. There’s so many things to be admired.”

Murray wasn’t originally sure if he would play mixed doubles after he revealed that several players turned him down. The admission sparked a social media frenzy, with everyone from Maria Sharapova to Billie Jean King offering to fill in.

The Brit also expressed concerns over a potential backlog of matches if bad weather impacted the schedule. But he joked last weekend that Williams would “be a pretty solid partner” and said that she’s “arguably the best player ever.”

The pair will be unseeded in the 48-team mixed doubles draw, which will be released on Wednesday.

American John Isner, a 2018 Nitto ATP Finals qualifier, made a winning return in his first appearance since his run to the Miami Open presented by Itau final.

The ninth seed, who had been sidelined since that match with a broken left foot, defeated #NextGenATP Norwegian Casper Ruud 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(11) on Tuesday in just under two hours to reach the second round at Wimbledon.

“I feel pretty good. I’m happy. I was just happy to be back out there. Of course happy to win,” said Isner, who made his first Grand Slam semi-final here last year. “It was touch and go for a little bit whether I was going to play this tournament. So I was just happy to be back out there. If I didn’t win, as long as I walked off the court healthy, I would have been happy with that.”

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Isner’s original plan after getting hurt was to try to return for the Mutua Madrid Open and, at the very least, Roland Garros. But what his medical team originally thought was a stress fracture turned out to be a broken foot, scans revealed once his inflammation went down. Finally, he was cleared to start practising just in time for this event.

“I got some good news finally from doctors. They told me they think my foot is ready to go, which it wasn’t at Roland Garros. I just needed really three more weeks,” Isner said. “Of course I would have liked a little more practice coming into here, but I think I’m maybe one player who can do okay without much practice. I just wasn’t able to. I wasn’t able to get on the court.”

Ruud, the Houston finalist who dropped his opening service game in the first two sets, held set points at 7/6 and 9/8 in the third-set tie-break before Isner clinched the victory on his third match point.

Isner will take a 4-0 FedEx ATP Head2Head record into his next match against Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin, a 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 winner over Spaniard Pablo Andujar. It is Kukushkin’s fourth straight trip to the second round at The All England Club.

“He hits the ball very flat, especially on the backhand side. It’s almost like underspin. Whereas my opponent today, I think, fortunately for me hit the ball with a lot of topspin,” Isner said. “He’s going to do what he does, keep the ball very low. It’s going to be tricky for me because I’m a big guy. I have played him a few times, and he has given me some trouble because he can hit some very good shots that can sort of frustrate you at times. His backhand is very good. It will be a tough match, for sure.”

Isner is defending 720 ATP Ranking points this fortnight due to his semi-final run last year. But the American is not stressing over that.

“I never think about how I did last year or losing these points or defending these points at all,” Isner said. “I’m just happy to be out there and played free. Just see what happens.”

Three of the Top 8 seeds were eliminated in the first round. And while Isner does not consider himself one of the event’s leading favourites, he marvels at the success of those who are: eight-time champion Roger Federer, World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and two-time titlist Rafael Nadal. The trio advanced to the second round without facing much trouble.

“It’s amazing to look at the Grand Slam stats. I mean, what has Roger won, 20? And he can’t even say he’s the greatest player of all-time at 20 Grand Slams. It’s incredible. These guys are pushing each other,” Isner said. “Rafa has 18 and then Djokovic is 15, not slowing down. It’s remarkable. These guys are pushing each other. I think when all’s said and done, it’s going to be arguing who’s better, Michael or LeBron? It will impossible to tell.”

Another veteran who advanced Tuesday was No. 13 seed Marin Cilic, who ousted ‘s-Hertogenbosch champion Adrian Mannarino 7-6(6), 7-6(4), 6-3. Cilic made the 2017 Wimbledon final, and three consecutive quarter-finals before that.

Next up for the Croat is Portuguese No. 1 Joao Sousa, who ousted NCAA singles champion and British wild card Paul Jubb 6-0, 6-3, 6-7(8), 6-1 in two hours and 16 minutes. Cilic has won all four of their FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings without dropping a set.