Top 5 underdog triumphs at Wimbledon

George Bastl defeats Pete Sampras, 2nd Round, 2002

Pete Sampras’s rule over the Wimbledon title had come to an end in the previous year when he was defeated by the hotshot young lad named Roger Federer, but nonetheless, his 6th seeding in this tournament at least meant that his fans would see him in the top eight.

But this was not the case in 2002. George Bastl, who was given a lifeline when Felix Mantilla withdrew, played the best game of his career to defeat Pete Sampras and cause a famous upset. Though, Bastl never won another match in the Wimbledon, but with this defeat Pete Sampras never came back to play on his favourite turf.

The match was a memorable one as it turned to be a close game and went down till the last set. Bastl had the last laugh and won with a score of 6-3,6-2,4-6,3-6,-4. Though it looked like the American was going to register a famous comeback after jumping back and winning the third and forth sets, but eventually Bastl held his nerves to snatch victory from the legendary player.

A dejected Sampras stated after the match that he was in no mood to consider retiring from the game and said “what I have done today and what I have done to the game is always going to stick no matter what happens in the next few years.”