Wimbledon 2025 shock: Benjamin Bonzi stuns Daniil Medvedev in first round

Wimbledon 2025 shock: Benjamin Bonzi stuns Daniil Medvedev in first round Aug, 26 2025

A shock that set the tone on Day 1

One of the first big stories of Wimbledon 2025 arrived fast: Benjamin Bonzi, unseeded and playing with nothing to lose, knocked out ninth seed Daniil Medvedev in four sets. It was the kind of result that changes the mood of a tournament. A former world No. 1 and the 2021 US Open champion, Medvedev came in with expectations and experience. He left with another early Slam exit that matched a theme running through his year.

Medvedev’s résumé is deep—three Australian Open finals and 16 weeks at No. 1 back in 2022—but grass can be unforgiving when your timing is off. Against Bonzi, the Russian never quite synced his defense-first patterns with the low bounce and quick strike rhythm the surface demands. Bonzi sensed it and went after him from the start, serving bold, stepping inside the baseline, and taking time away in rally after rally.

The Frenchman didn’t outshoot Medvedev so much as outpace him. He kept points short, leaned on his first ball, and attacked the second serve whenever he could. Medvedev’s depth came and went, his forehand leaked errors in pockets, and the steady problem-solving that usually steadies his matches never fully arrived. When the sets got tight, Bonzi held firm. He didn’t blink on big points.

Two things stood out. First, Bonzi read Medvedev’s deep return position and used it against him, mixing wide serves and body serves to win cheap points. Second, he wasn’t afraid to change directions early in rallies. That forced Medvedev to move forward and sideways, the exact stress test he dislikes on grass. The court did the rest, rewarding Bonzi’s clean contact and punishing any hesitation from the seed.

Medvedev has done real work on grass in recent seasons—his best run at SW19 is a semifinal—but this one slipped away fast. His patterns that shine on hard courts, like camping deep on return and absorbing pace, left him exposed here. On a medium-paced Centre Court, that’s manageable; on a slick outer court, it can be fatal. Bonzi turned that tactical gap into a plan and didn’t let go.

What about the numbers? You didn’t need them to see the shape of it. Bonzi won the serve-plus-one exchange. Medvedev’s second serve came under steady fire. The Frenchman controlled the tight passages and never let the match get dragged into long, grinding sequences where Medvedev usually thrives.

  • Bonzi attacked early in rallies, avoiding long exchanges.
  • He targeted Medvedev’s second serve and deep return position.
  • He held his nerve in the set-defining games.

For Medvedev, the loss slotted into a tough year at the majors. Reports across the season put his 2025 Grand Slam record at 1-4, a stark drop for a player used to second weeks and big courts. The pattern wasn’t about one bad day; it was about repeated stumbles in the same pressure zones where he usually thrives.

Bonzi, meanwhile, earned the biggest win of his career. The 28-year-old has hovered between the ATP Tour and the Challenger circuit, and he’s had starts and stops along the way. What he showed here was a complete match built on clean execution, not noise. No wild shot-making, no overreach—just smart serving, tight footwork, and a willingness to take the ball early. It was professional, sharp, and brave.

Why it matters—and what comes next

Why it matters—and what comes next

Seeds fall at Wimbledon every year, but this one hits differently because it feeds a larger story about Medvedev’s 2025. The Slam struggles kept showing up. And the twist? The two met again at the US Open later in the summer, and that one turned chaotic. A photographer entered the court in a critical moment, the match was briefly unsettled, and Medvedev still fought it to a fifth set. Bonzi outlasted him there, too. Two majors, same matchup, same outcome.

So where does that leave Medvedev? The on-court tasks are clear. He needs a firmer first-serve pattern on grass—more variety, more body serves—and a more aggressive return position in big points. He also needs to protect the forehand wing early in rallies, where rushed footwork cost him control. None of that is beyond him. He’s a problem-solver by nature. But the mental reset after a season of early exits is the bigger lift.

There’s also the ranking angle. Early Slam losses carry a cost in points and in perception. Medvedev is too proven to get written off, yet tour life is ruthless. Fresh names grab chances the moment they appear. His section of the Wimbledon draw, once anchored by a top-10 seed, suddenly opened for everyone—seeds, floaters, and veterans looking for one more big run.

For Bonzi, this is the kind of win that can change a year. The next round brings pressure of a different kind—expectation. He won’t sneak up on anyone now. To keep going, he needs to keep the first-serve percentage healthy, keep the rallies short, and stay bold on second-serve returns. If he does that, he can make trouble for players with bigger résumés than his.

If you zoom out, the match delivered a few simple lessons:

  • Form outside the Slams doesn’t always translate when the stakes spike.
  • Grass rewards first-strike tennis and punishes hesitation.
  • Even former No. 1s can get rattled when their base patterns don’t fit the surface.

There’s also the human side of it. Medvedev is known for reading matches in real time, making small changes, and turning things around. That didn’t happen here. He looked unsettled from the start, and the match never slowed down to the pace he needed. Bonzi, calm and clear, stayed on script.

None of this erases what Medvedev has done or can still do. It just underlines how thin the margins are at this level, especially on grass. You miss a few returns long. You catch a couple of forehands late. You guess wrong on a second serve at 4-4. Suddenly an unseeded opponent is walking to the net with the biggest win of his career, and you’re staring at a season that needs a mid-year reset.

Bonzi earned every bit of it. He brought the right plan to the right surface and executed for four sets without drifting. For Medvedev, the tape from this match will sting, but it’s useful. It shows exactly where the gaps are and how opponents will try to poke them the next time grass season comes around.

Wimbledon always finds a way to deliver a surprise in week one. This one just came with a name everyone knows on the losing side—and a reminder that reputation doesn’t hold serve when the ball stays low and the pressure jumps.