Lucky loser Lauren Davis shocks defending champion Kerber at Wimbledon

American Lauren Davis pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the tournament on Thursday, fighting back from a set down to take out the defending champion, Angelique Kerber, in the second round.

Davis, who’s currently ranked No. 95, was lucky to even be in the draw—she lost in qualifying, only getting into the main draw as a lucky loser. And early on it looked like it was going to be a quick day at the office for Kerber as Davis sprayed 19 unforced errors en route to losing a routine first set, 6-2.

But the American tightened the screws on her game from there, hitting 37 winners to 31 unforced errors in the next two sets—and winning the last six games of the match—to prevail, 2-6, 6-2, 6-1.

“This win means everything because this is what I strive for, this is what I work for,” Davis said. “It’s still setting in. I’m definitely happy with the way that I played - this is, I’d say, probably the biggest win of my career, especially considering the circumstances, her being the champion last year.

“I was super disappointed having lost last round of qualies. I found out less than two hours later that I got into main. I was ecstatic about that. It’s honestly a dream being here. It just feels amazing.”

Davis is now through to the third round of a Grand Slam for the fifth time in her career and for the second time at Wimbledon, having gone this far here in 2014. More importantly, this is a return to prominence for the former Top 30 player. Following a heartbreaking loss to Simona Halep in the third round of the 2018 Australian Open, in which she held three match points but ended up losing, 4-6, 6-4, 15-13, after three hours and 44 minutes, Davis didn’t win another tour-level match the rest of 2018 and ended up falling as low as No. 264 last October, finishing at No. 252 on the year-end rankings.

She never gave in, though, grinding her way back into the Top 100 this year, and now winning back-to-back tour-level matches for the first time since that third round showing in Australia last year.

“That’s tennis. That’s life. There’s definitely been tons of highs and lows,” Davis added. “It’s definitely made this and competing at this level all the more fulfilling. I appreciate it a lot more than I used to.”

Davis’ win over No. 5 Kerber isn’t just her first Top 10 win at a Grand Slam, it’s actually the second-best win of her whole career, having beaten a No. 4-ranked Victoria Azarenka at Indian Wells in 2014.

Kerber, meanwhile, will now fall out of the Top 10. She needed to reach the semifinals for a chance to stay in the elite. She has also gone a full year without a title, her last one being Wimbledon last year.

“Of course I’m disappointed,” the German said. “Of course it’s not the way I would like to finish here or play here, but you have days like that sometimes. You have to accept it. You have to learn from it.

“You try to forget it as soon as possible.”

Awaiting Davis in the third round will be the No. 30 seed, Carla Suarez Navarro, who beat Pauline Parmentier in a pair of tiebreaks, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4). Suarez Navarro leads their head-to-head, 2-1, but Davis won the pair’s last meeting at Rome in 2017. The two have never played each other on grass.

Davis, a former No. 26, is projected to return to the Top 75 by reaching the third round.