Milos Raonic and Daniel Nestor among upsets at Wimbledon, but there’s still hope for the Olympics

Canadian tennis fans came into Wimbledon with high hopes, and for good reason. Daniel Nestor had just won two consecutive tournaments — his eighth Grand Slam title at the French Open and then his 79th title overall at Eastbourne, tying him for second all-time with Mike Bryan. And on June 6, Tennis Canada announced their nominations for the London Olympics, all of whom were in the main draw at the All England Club. Milos Raonic and Vasek Pospisil were in the men's draw, Aleksandra Wozniak and Stephanie Dubois were in the women's, and Nestor was in the men's doubles draw with partner Max Mirnyi of Belarus, while also playing in mixed doubles with Germany's Julia Goerges. If Raonic, Pospisil, Wozniack, and Dubois all won their opening round matches, it would set up two all-Canadian tilts in the second round. It was setting up to be quite a week for the Canadians.

But on Day 2 — the same day Dubois learned she'd be heading to London with the initial quartet thanks to an ITF wildcard — the Canadians' chances started to go downhill. Wozniak and Nestor both moved on. However Dubois and Pospisil lost their matches. As for Raonic, his match against Santiago Giraldo was postponed due to rain. And when Wozniak was ousted two days later, the momentum began to wane. By Friday morning, all hope was gone.

Raonic, seeded 21 in the tournament, would go on to beat Giraldo, but mother nature forced him into yet another fractured match in round two. Darkness set in during the third set of his battle with unseeded Sam Querrey, and when play resumed this morning, Raonic found he wasn't at the top of his game. He dropped the third and fourth sets 7-6(8), 6-4, effectively ending his Wimbledon run.

[Busted Racquet: Roger Federer almost becomes another upset victim]

The ATP summer schedule is a marathon, especially for a young player like Raonic who, due to injuries, has yet to complete a full season on tour. Remember, this was the exact time last year that a hip injury forced him off the court for close to three months. Whether you blame his performance on fatigue or not, Raonic knows great players find a way to win even when not playing their best.

"I have to learn to win more playing poorly," he told the Canadian Press following the loss. "I had the chance to win while not playing well."

Nestor didn't fare much better. He and Mirnyi, the top-ranked men's duo, were upset by the unseeded pair of Daniele Bracciali and Julian Knowle.

Raonic and Nestor joined a long list of high seeded players ousted in the early rounds. Rafael Nadal suffered a historic upset loss to Lukas Rosol in round two, while Sam Stosur, Li Na, and Caroline Wozniacki all suffered early exits as well.

The upsets breed uncertainty for when the players return to the same site just three weeks after the Wimbledon finals for the Olympics in July. And if there's any sports event that loves underdog stories, it's the Olympics. Even though Canadians are among the players scuffling, inconsistent play atop the ranks and the decision to play three-set matches (as opposed to five), leaves the Olympic tournament wide open. Also, with how emotionally draining a prolonged Wimbledon run can be, even those playing well can't be trusted wholeheartedly. The one thing that the first five days of Wimbledon have taught us, it's that anything is possible at the All England Club. So don't count the Canadians out just yet.