NEW YORK — Top-seeded Ana Ivanovic lost in one of the biggest upsets in tennis history Thursday, stunned by 188th-ranked Julie Coin 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in the second round of the U.S. Open.
Coin screamed when Ivanovic’s last shot sailed out, then hopped for joy and hit an extra ball high into the stands. Ivanovic quickly gathered her gear and left the court, her hopes of another Grand Slam championship dashed.
“If you would ask if I’m playing like a No. 1, no,” Ivanovic said. “Obviously, it was very hard.”
Even after Ivanovic struggled in the first round while coming back from an injured thumb, there was no way to see this coming.
Coin spent much of the year playing in minor-league events and recently thought she might give up the sport. Last week, she nearly got knocked out of the qualifying event to merely make it into the Open.
It just didn’t add up, even to the 25-year-old Frenchwoman with a mathematics degree from Clemson.
Asked whether she’d thought such a win was possible, Coin gave a simple, honest answer.
“No,” she said.
And when did she believe it might happen? “I guess when it was over,” she told the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium, drawing a huge ovation.
If there was any suspicion that Coin was wavering, she steadied herself by winning 10 straight points in the third set. It was Ivanovic who looked jittery, hitting shots directly into the net or way out.
Never before in the Open era, that began in 1968, had the No. 1 woman lost this early in the tournament.
During the first four days at the U.S. Open, almost all the favorites had won. Handily, too, with Venus Williams leading the romps earlier in the day.
But when the Ivanovic-Coin match was moved from the smaller Louis Armstrong Stadium to the main Ashe stage, fans hardly knew what was in store.
Tentative at times, Ivanovic seemed to regain her edge midway through the third set. The French Open champ led 40-0 in the fifth game and was about to break Coin’s serve when the momentum shifted.
Coin came back to hold, starting her decisive streak.
Ivanovic tried to stave off Coin in the final game, but it was too late for the 20-year-old Serbian star. Coin won on her third match point — quite a result for someone playing in her first tour-level event.
Coin had tried to qualify for the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon and never made any of them. And she certainly wasn’t anything bankable going into this match — she’d earned less than $100,000 lifetime as a pro, and was facing someone who had won nearly $6 million.
Next up for Coin in the third round is No. 32 Amelie Mauresmo, who eliminated Kaia Kanepi 2-6, 6-4, 6-0.
Serena Williams joined her sister in moving into the third round, as did Rafael Nadal, James Blake, David Ferrer, Andy Murray and Dinara Safina. Blake advanced when Steve Darcis pulled out because of a bad lower back.
At a glance
Men’s seeded losers: No. 24 Paul-Henri Mathieu and No. 25 Philipp Kohlschreiber
Women’s seeded losers: No. 1 Ana Ivanovic and No. 13 Agnes Szavay.
On the court today: Men: No. 2 Roger Federer vs. Thiago Alves, No. 3 Novak Djokovic vs. Robert Kendrick, No. 8 Andy Roddick vs. Ernests Gulbis. Women: No. 2 Jelena Jankovic vs. Zheng Jie, No. 3 Svetlana Kuznetsova vs. Katarina Srebotnik (28), No. 5 Elena Dementieva vs. Anne Keothavong, No. 12 Marion Bartoli vs. No. 23 Lindsay Davenport.
Stat of the day: Ana Ivanovic is the first women’s No. 1 seed to lose before the third round in the Open era. Of the 40 prior No. 1s, 36 reached the semifinals.
TV: USA, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., 5-9 p.m., midnight-2 a.m. (taped).
