An Early Wimbledon Exit for Federer

NYTimes.com , England — When Wednesday began, the talk was about Roger Federer’s shoes.

All England Club had warned him that the orange-soled Nike shoes he wore during the first round had too much color in them and that they violated the club’s “predominantly white dress” code.

But at the end of one of the strangest days at Wimbledon in recent memory, which saw seven players retire or withdrawal and third-seeded Maria Sharapova lose to a qualifier, the most fitting end was one of the rarest sights of all: Roger Federer losing in the second round of a Grand Slam tournament.

Federer’s remarkable streak of reaching 36 consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinals ended Wednesday at the hands of Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine, who used old-school serve-and-volley tactics to send the latest shock through Wimbledon with a 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 7-5, 7-6 (5) victory.

Asked to explain his victory on the BBC telecast after the match, Stakhovsky said, “Magic.”

“I did everything I needed and everything I wanted,” he added. “It was a fantastic day for me.”

Less than a week ago, when the draw came out, there were visions of a quarterfinal between Federer and Rafael Nadal. Now, suddenly, shockingly, they are both gone from the tournament. The bottom half of the draw, thought to be overloaded with talent, no longer has Nadal, Federer or No. 6 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who was one of the seven retirements Wednesday. A spot in the final is now Andy Murray’s for the taking.

But none of the previous upsets during the first three days of the tournament, none of the injuries or oddities, come close to Federer’s loss here.

Though nearing his 32nd birthday and having won only one tournament this year, Federer had made a home at Wimbledon. He has won seven championships here, including last year. He had not lost before the quarterfinals at Wimbledon since falling in the first round to Mario Ancic in 2002.

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