JOIN USDarcis stuns Berdych
Tennis fans did not have to wait long for the first upset of the Olympics with sixth seed Tomas Berdych losing 6-4, 6-4 to Belgian world number 75 Steve Darcis at the opening match on Wimbledon's Centre Court on Saturday.
As the Czech approached the net to shake the winner's hand he pulled a slightly bemused look as if to say "What happened there?" before congratulating his grinning opponent, who had never before played on the 15,000 capacity court.
"It has always been a dream to play (on Centre Court). When you're young you watch Pete Sampras playing there and you think maybe one day, and today it was my day," Darcis told reporters.
Having won the first set and gone 5-3 up in the second to serve for the match, Darcis wobbled to hand his opponent a break.
Berdych's change in fortunes looked set to continue as Darcis, serving for the match a second time, made a string of sloppy errors to go 15-40 down, hanging his head in frustration.
But the crowd got behind the underdog and with a lot of clapping and some cries of encouragement the 28-year-old clawed his way back to deuce.
The pair battled it out in a long rally, which Darcis ended with a classy cross court backhand to gain match point before Berdych powered a shot long to gift the Belgian the match.
Darcis will face Colombia's Santiago Giraldo in the second round. "I played him in Munich on clay this year and I lost already, but you know I just beat Tomas," said Darcis.
Easy for Serena
Wimbledon champion Serena Williams breezed through her first round match against Serbia's Jelena Jankovic on Saturday with US first lady Michelle Obama cheering her on.
Obama watched from the players box along with Williams' sister Venus as the fourth seed took just 61 minutes to see off former world number one Jankovic 6-3, 6-1.