David Leggat: Upsets give spark to sport as underdogs have their day

Nick Kyrgios of Australia celebrates defeating Rafael Nadal of Spain in their men's singles match on Centre Court at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon. Photo / Getty Images

Wimbledon has almost slipped by unnoticed this year.

Shows what happens when you're engrossed in the World Cup, Lou Vincent's heavy fall, the Warriors, the return of Super Rugby and the cricketing success in the Caribbean.

If you have My Sky you don't record tennis in the middle of the night, as you might a rugby test, or football match. You don't record rallies, not that grass is the most conducive environment to 30-shot duels. Therefore you're either up in the night, as a genuine lover of the game, or you find out what happened over cornflakes.

In case you hadn't noticed, a pile of big names have taken earlier-than-anticipated tumbles this past fortnight.

By now you'll know whether Roger Federer has made it past handy Canadian Milos Raonic - ending the prospect of The Year of the Canuks, what with Eugenie Bouchard, seeded 13th, becoming the first Canadian woman into the Wimbledon singles final where she'll face Czech Republic lefthander Petra Kvitova early tomorrow.

Costa Rica face the biggest game in their football history, against the Netherlands shortly after that match ends early tomorrow.

They've been World Cup gold, a delight both with their desire to play entertainingly but also their unexpected success.

A step away from the semifinals. Who'd have thought it. They beat perennial heavyweights Italy and Uruguay and easily held ordinary England to a scoreless draw.

And here's the rub: would you rather have seen the Big Four - Djokovic, Nadal, Murray and Federer - duking it out in the men's semifinals as per just about every grand slam denouement?

Or, what about having a quarter-final setup minus Spain or Italy? And are you disappointed to see the Belgians or Costa Ricans still there?

So the question is: are you a fan of the underdog, the result which raises the eyebrows or has you thinking "didn't see that one coming".

Or do you prefer what could be termed the natural order of things, wherein the strong always advance - maybe after the occasional close scrape - at the expense of the plucky but limited? Give me a decent upstart roughie any day.

Why? Because sport, like life, should have a degree of unpredictability, the capacity to surprise. Not all the time, not in every match, but just enough to spark the conversations.

Which is why the skilled Colombians and the fabulous James Rodriguez toppling the so-far wobbly hosts over breakfast today wouldn't unduly worry me; nor the Belgians sending Lionel Messi and co home early.

It has been a spectacular World Cup, possibly the most invigorating, attack-minded of them all. It is good to be able to say that about a tournament hosted by the country which represents that ideal best of all.

How does a Belgium-Costa Rica semifinal sound? Nothing against the Dutch, who could well win it but, personally, if it means the departure of the worst cheat - diver - at the cup, Arjen Robben, that'll do just fine.