From 'one of the favorites' to out in round one: Sebastian Korda eliminated at Wimbledon by Jiri Vesely

Two weeks ago, Sebastian Korda expressed his belief on being “one of the favorites at Wimbledon” following his victory over Frances Tiafoe at the Queen’s Club in London.

Jiri Vesely didn’t get the memo. On Wednesday, the left-hander eliminated the 22nd-seeded Korda, 7-6 (7), 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, improving to 9-0 in first-round matches staged at the All England Club.

The direction of the contest might have taken a different trajectory, had Korda converted one of the three set points that went to waste in the opening set—two with the Czech serving at 4-5 and a third at 7-6 in the subsequent tie-break. It's a frustrating blow for Korda after beginning the year by making his first major quarterfinal at the Australian Open. Going one for 11 on break points didn't help matters either.

Vesely has stepped up at this venue before, with Top 10 wins over Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem among his credentials. The 29-year-old advanced to the third round last year, where he was defeated by Tommy Paul—then ranked No. 32.

Paul, seeded No. 16 this time around thanks in part to his breakout semifinal performance at Melbourne Park, pulled away from qualifier Shintaro Mochizuki, 7-5, 6-3, 6-1. Paul won 45 percent of his return points and capitalized on six of seven break point opportunities. An intriguing second-round meeting with 2016 finalist Milos Raonic awaits the 26-year-old American.

Ben Shelton won his inaugural match at the grass-court major, denying Taro Daniel a comeback from two sets down. The No. 32 seed survived, 6-4, 6-3, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, finishing with 22 aces. Like Korda and Paul, Shelton also enjoyed his best major result to date in January with his quarterfinal run Down Under.

The competitor who took Shelton out last week in Mallorca on his way to the title, Christopher Eubanks, stayed hot. The 27-year-old also enjoyed a successful debut by overcoming Thiago Monteiro, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5, 6-3, with 27 aces of his own.

Earlier, the 10th-ranked Tiafoe defeated Wu Yibing, 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-4 and ninth-ranked Taylor Fritz battled past Yannick Hanfmann, 6-4, 2-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3.