BY AJAYBIR BEHNIWAL

After an otherwise quiet Day 2 at the All England Lawn Tennis Club on Tuesday, Day 3 was full of story lines and surprises, with the biggest of them all being the early departure of seven-time Wimbledon champion, Roger Federer, whose streak of 36 consecutive appearances in Grand Slam quarterfinals has come to a disappointing end.

Although he narrowly squeaked out of the first set in a tie-breaker, Federer, the defending champion, was served a stunning second-round upset at the hands of Sergiy Stakhovsky, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 7-5, 7-6 (5). Stakhovsky, ranked No. 116 in the world, came out firing on all cylinders, utilizing his powerful serve to oust Federer, often employing an effective serve-and-volley strategy which Federer was unable to overcome.

Throughout the match, Federer had opportunities to put himself back into position to take control of the match, but failed to do so, and as a result, suffered one of the biggest upsets in Grand Slam history. In the fourth and final set, Federer had the chance to even the match at two sets apiece on Stakhovsky’s serve, but was unable to convert on the break point, instead hitting the ball into the net with his opponent awaiting a volley at the net.

In his post-match press conference, Federer described the loss as one of his toughest, but said there was no indication coming into the match that he would be unable to perform to his ability and advance to the third round. And although there is undoubtedly speculation as to whether or not his career is slowly coming to an end, Federer quickly dismissed any such notion, indicating that he plans to continue to play “for many years to come.”

Prior to this match, Stakhovsky had an unimpressive 1-4 record at Wimbledon including three first round retirements and had never defeated a Top 10 player in his career. However, those are just memories of the past at this point for the 27 year-old Ukranian, as he moves on to the third round for the first time at Wimbledon, equaling his best ever performance in a Grand Slam. Stakhovsky will face Austrian Jurgen Melzer, who defeated Julian Reister of Germany in his second round match.

Federer, meanwhile, makes his earliest Grand Slam exit in 10 years, dating back to a 2003 first round loss at Roland Garros. Additionally, it was his first loss to an opponent ranked outside of the top 100 since a 2005 loss to Richard Gasquet in the quarterfinals of the Monte Carlo Championships. The second round loss by Federer is the earliest loss for a defending Wimbledon champion since Lleyton Hewitt in 2003.

Hewitt, was one of seven former No. 1-ranked players to take the court on Wednesday at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, and he, along with the other six former top-ranked players, including Caroline Wozniacki, Ana Ivanovic, and Maria Sharapova, all failed to advance to further rounds in one of the wildest days in tennis history. In addition to the exit of former top players, seven players were knocked out of the tournament due to either withdrawals or retirements, which is believed to be the most in any single day at a Grand Slam tournament in the Open era.

Among those who were forced to withdraw due to injuries were No. 6 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, American John Isner, Radek Stepanek, and Steve Darcis, who, like Stakhovsky, pulled off an unbelievable upset, defeating Rafael Nadal on Monday in the first round. The women’s draw was not immune to injuries either, as No. 2 seed Victoria Azarenka, whose knee injury from the first round carried over into the second round, was also forced to retire midway through her match.

The high volume of injuries has caused the questioning of the safety of the playing surface this year on the grass courts of the All England Lawn Tennis Club and it will be interesting to see whether the trend continues over the next few days at Wimbledon.