World No. 1 Suffers First-Round Defeat in Melbourne

There was a major shock in the first round of the men’s singles at the Melbourne Open on Sunday (15 January) with 2011 world champion and world No. 1 Maikel Scheffers of the Netherlands losing in three sets to France’s Michael Jeremiasz.

Jeremiasz, a wildcard entry in the tournaments as the world No. 13, won 6-2, 0-6, 6-3 to extend his unbeaten run on the 2012 NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters to nine matches.

Heading into the tournament, the right-handed 30-year-old was 341-108 all-time in his singles career, with his top ranking coming in October 2005 when he hit the No. 1 spot.

Jeremiasz will now face Austrian Martin Legner in Monday’s quarter-finals. Meanwhile, Scheffers will now look to the first Super Series tournament of the season, the Sydney International Open, which starts on Friday, to try and register his first main draw singles win of 2012.

Wheelchair Tennis will be one of 20 sports featured at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.