People in England probably don't often hear the phrase, "Gig 'em!" but they should get used to it after former Texas A&M tennis player Arthur Rinderknech defeated third-ranked Alexander "Sascha" Zverev in the first round at Wimbledon.
Rinderknech, a 29-year-old Frenchman, left his home country to play tennis at Texas A&M University. He was a member of the squad from 2014-18 and majored in business. During his time as an Aggie, the school won three SEC regular season championships and one SEC Tournament championship. In addition, he met his now-wife, Hortense Boscher, during his time in school. Boscher, who is also French-born, competed on the women's tennis team at Texas A&M Corpus-Christi.
Following his college career, Rinderknech turned professional. Prior to Tuesday, the Frenchman had failed to really make a name for himself in the pro game. But everything changed with his upset win over Zverev.
He entered as the 72nd-ranked men's player in the world, nearly 70 spots behind the German star. Bookmakers installed Zverev as a heavy favorite (-550). But Zverev has historically struggled at the All England Club and that continued with his first-round exit in 2025.
Rinderknech won the first set and Zverev won the second set on Monday before the match was suspended due to the impending 11 p.m. curfew. The players resumed the match on Tuesday and Rinderknech won the third set. The former Aggie had a chance to close Zverev out in the fourth set, holding a 5-3 in the tiebreak before Zvereve rattled off four straight points to claim the set.
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Undeterred, the Frenchman broke Zverev in the third game of the deciding set and held serve the rest of the way. Rinderknech wasn't broken a single time in the entire match and both of his dropped sets came in tiebreakers.
Now, the former Texas A&M star doesn't have much time to rest up for his next match, since the first-round clash was played across two days. However, he's going to see a massive step-down in competition.
Cristian Garin, a "lucky loser," awaits in the second round.
Rinderknech will be favored in that match, and he has a golden opportunity to advance to the third round at Wimbledon for the first time in his career.
Gig 'em, indeed!
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