Zverev joins lengthening list of top men's seeds to exit Wimbledon
The German, a three-time grand slam finalist, was beaten 7-6 (3) 6-7 (8) 6-3 6-7 (5) 6-4 by Frenchman Rinderknech in a match carried over from Monday evening.
In fact it was so long – at four hours and 40 minutes – that it actually started in June and finished in July.
Afterwards, the 28-year-old – who has faced allegations of domestic abuse in the past which were unproven and which he has always denied – opened up on his struggles off the court and revealed he may seek therapy.
'Maybe for the first time in my life I'll probably need it,' he said.
'I've been through a lot of difficulties. I've been through a lot of difficulties in the media. I've been through a lot of difficulties in life generally.
'I've never felt this empty before. Just lacking joy, just lacking joy in everything that I do. It's not necessarily about tennis. Just lacking joy outside of tennis, as well.'
Zverev is the fourth top-10 player to crash out in the first round at this year's Championships – and the highest-ranked – joining Lorenzo Musetti, Holger Rune, and Daniil Medvedev through the exit door.
Rinderknech, the world number 72, was previously best known for having to retire from a match he was winning at last year's French Open because he injured his foot kicking an advertising hoarding.
The 29-year-old said: 'I don't even know where to start. My legs are still shaking. I can't do this anymore.
'We started yesterday at 8pm, finish now at 7. What a moment, such emotions.'
Italian seventh seed Musetti was knocked out by Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia.
A 6-2 4-6 7-5 6-1 defeat was not a major surprise, however, as Musetti has been recovering from a thigh injury since Roland Garros and was forced to withdraw from Queen's last month.
There were no such problems for world number one Jannik Sinner, who announced himself at this year's Wimbledon with a statement win over fellow Italian Luca Nardi.
The 23-year-old dropped only seven games in a comprehensive 6-4 6-3 6-0 victory in an hour and 48 minutes.
Sinner slammed down nine aces among 28 winners and lost only 12 points behind his own serve.
The three-time grand slam winner has only reached the semi-finals here once, in 2023, but all roads seem to be leading to a showdown with defending champion Carlos Alcaraz a week on Sunday in a repeat of their epic five-set French Open final, won by the Spaniard, last month.
While Alcaraz toiled to a five-set, four-and-a-half-hour win over 38-year-old Fabio Fognini on Monday, Sinner was not hanging around as he raced into round two, where he will meet Australian Aleksandar Vukic.
'New tournament, new chances, new challenges,' he said. 'You have one opponent at a time so obviously I try to keep going and enjoy playing here.'
The man most likely to prevent a Sinner-Alcaraz final, Novak Djokovic, is safely through despite dropping the second set against France's Alexandre Muller.
The seven-time champion won 6-1 6-7 (7) 6-2 6-2 with the match finishing at 10.30pm.
'It's great to finish tonight before the curfew,' said the 38-year-old, who faces Britain's Dan Evans next.
'It's great to be back at Wimbledon. This tournament has always meant a lot to me.'
Djokovic required a medical timeout at the start of the third set but said he was never in danger of pulling out.
He added: 'I went from feeling my best to feeling my worst. I don't know, a stomach bug, or what it was. But the energy came back.'
Djokovic admits Wimbledon offers him his best chance of finally claiming a record 25th grand slam.
'I wouldn't be here if I didn't think I had a chance,' he said. 'I think I always have a chance and I earned the right to feel I can go all the way to the title.'
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