Hingis could paint the lines with the creativity of an artist wielding a fine brush, but the 129th-ranked Dokic obliterated the Swiss as thoroughly as a woman covering a canvas with a roller. Hingis was a cerebral player, but Dokic blasted the ball with such conviction it afforded the rattled 19-year-old no time to think. Hingis became just the third top-seeded woman to lose in the first round of a major in the Open era.
“I guess I still can't believe I've beaten her,” Dokic said.
When she was connecting with confidence, Dokic was capable of terminating points with expediency, but when she missed the sweet spot, the former junior No. 1’s flat shots offered little margin for error. However, watch the replay and see the variety of shots Dokic deployed: She frequently drives the ball up the line, shows her skills with both the swing and traditional volleys, and even counters some of Hingis’ drop shots with droppers of her own.
This was the world No. 1’s first match since she squandered a 6-4, 3-2 lead over Steffi Graf in the French Open final weeks earlier, falling victim to the German's comeback and a hostile crowd that harassed her with jeers after she walked around the net to inspect a ball mark, reducing the teen to tears. Hingis said afterward if her mother and coach, Melanie Molitor, had not been there, she would not have returned to court that day. The aura of confidence Hingis carried on court in prior major appearances eroded, and she arrived at SW19 without her mother. “We just decided to have a little bit of distance and probably work a bit more on our private lives,” said Hingis.
Hingis’ hopes of a comeback crumbled as Dokic, just 16, picked up the pace as the match progressed. Dokic had won three matches in qualifying and was not fazed by making her Wimbledon main-draw debut against the top seed.
“[Hingis] looks devastated to me, emotionally, and crushed,” Hall of Famer Billie Jean King said as the second set spiraled out of Hingis’ control.
Because Dokic went on to reach the 1999 Wimbledon quarterfinals and the 2000 semifinals, attain a career-high rank of No. 4, and earn 348 match victories (as of the start of this year's tournament), there’s a tendency to diminish this upset. Perhaps a future Top 10 player found her zone and ousted a distracted top seed who was still nursing the emotional wounds of her French Open final meltdown. But this match makes our list because Dokic didn’t just dismiss the world No. 1, she completely dominated her.
While Hingis looked haunted, she had reached the finals of eight of her prior 10 Grand Slam tournament appearances, nearly pulling off a true Grand Slam when she made the game look like child’s play in a historic 1997 season. Hingis defeated Dokic, 6-1, 6-2, en route to the 1999 Australian Open title nearly six months earlier, but Dokic dominated this rematch.
No. 5: Dokic d. Hingis, 1999
No. 4: Karlovic d. Hewitt, 2003
No. 3: McNeil d. Graf, 1994
No. 2: Bastl d. Sampras, 2002
No. 1: Doohan d. Becker, 1987
