Rafael Nadal is a two-time champion at Wimbledon, having lifted the famous trophy on Centre Court in 2008 and 2010.
Nadal defeated Roger Federer, the defending champion, in a five-set classic in 2008, and earned a straight-sets victory over Tomas Berdych in 2010.
Outside of his triumphs at the tournament, the Spaniard made three finals in 2006, 2007 and 2011, and made three consecutive semi-finals in his appearances at Wimbledon between 2018 and 2022.
The king of clay had his fair share of success on the grass courts of the All England Club, but it hasn’t always been plain sailing for Nadal at the championships.
After his fifth final appearance in 2011, the 22-time Grand Slam champion endured a six-year period where he was unable to make it past the fourth round, suffering shocking upsets along the way.
Perhaps the most unexpected of those upsets came in 2013, when Nadal lost to an ATP player ranked outside the top 100 in his opening match.
Photo by Julian Finney/Getty ImagesThe only player to have ever beaten Rafael Nadal in the first round at Wimbledon
Nadal came into Wimbledon in 2013 looking to make a drastic improvement on his campaign the previous year, where he crashed out in the second round to Lukas Rosol.
His first round opponent came in the form of Steve Darcis, a Belgian player ranked 135th in the world.
Darcis, who reached a career high of 38 in the world, had lost in the first round in 12 of the previous 18 Grand Slam events he had appeared at.
Ahead of his match with Nadal, he had only ever won at Wimbledon once; the sole victory coming in 2009.
Many, if not all, would have predicted that the challenge of the two-time champion in the first round would have been too tall an order for Darcis, but the then-29-year-old would go on to do the unthinkable.
Photo credit should read CARL COURT/AFP via Getty Images
He defeated Nadal in straight sets, winning 7-6, 7-6, 6-4 to hand the fifth seed his second consecutive early exit at the event.
Following his victory, when asked if he surprised himself in beating the legend, Darcis said in his post-match press conference: “Yes, a little bit.
“[It’s] just the second guy in the top 10 that I beat. So, of course, it’s one of the greatest wins that I have. It was a great match from the start to the end. So I’m really, really happy today.”
Nadal’s conqueror was asked what he would tell his grandchildren about the day he beat one of the greatest of all time.
Darcis responded: “First, I will try to catch the DVD of the match, to keep it at home. Then, of course, those kinds of matches you like because you play tennis to play on big courts against big players. Then, of course, in the end, if you win, it’s great.
“So I think a lot of people will talk about this match in a few years, and also me, I think. So we’ll see if I have more children, I already have one, and we’ll see.”
Photo credit should read BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty ImagesSteve Darcis’ career after he beat Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon
Following his shocking first-round triumph, Darcis was forced to withdraw from his second-round match against Lukasz Kubot due to a shoulder injury he picked up in his clash with Nadal.
After Wimbledon 2013, he would go on to make the main draw of 14 more Grand Slam tournaments; his best result of which was a third-round appearance at the Australian Open in 2017.
In Melbourne that year, he defeated Sam Groth and Diego Schwartzman to tie his best-ever finish at a major, but was beaten by Andrea Seppi in round three.
Due to the elbow pain he had been suffering from since the 2019 Wimbledon championships, in October that season, Darcis announced he would retire after the 2020 Australian Open.
Since calling it a day on his playing career, he has taken up a coaching role, training Belgian compatriots Raphael Collignon and Gauthier Onclin.