The upsets continue at Wimbledon and now just one of the top-10 seeds remains in the women’s draw.
Top seed and world No.1 Simona Halep became the latest female to make an unexpected early exit on the pristine lawns of SW19, falling in the third round to world No.48 Hsieh Su-wei.
Halep, the reining French Open champion, suffered a 3-6 6-4 7-5 loss in two hours and 20 minutes on No.1 Court.
The result leaves Czech Karolina Pliskova, the seventh seed, as the only women’s top-10 player still in the tournament but seven-time champion Serena Williams, of course, remains in contention.
Williams, 36, who gave birth to her daughter in September, has dropped to 183rd in the world after playing only three tournaments in the last 12 months but is seeded 25th at Wimbledon having received a favorable draw by organizers.
Only six seeds — including Pliskova — remain in same half of the draw as the American, who will play Russia’s Evgeniya Rodina, the world No.120, in the fourth round.
Top seeds tumble
Fourteen of the women’s and 16 of the men’s seeds have failed to make it through to the second week of the third grand slam of the year.
Halep follows Caroline Wozniacki (2), Garbine Muguruza (3), Sloane Stephens (4), Elina Svitolina (5), Caroline Garcia (6), Petra Kvitova (8), Venus Williams (9) and Madison Keys (10) out of the tournament.
For Hseih, the Taiwanese progresses to the last 16 at Wimbledon for the first time in her career — her previous best was the third round in 2012 — and will next play Slovak Dominika Cibulkova.
Nadal eases through
Rafael Nadal made it to the last 16 with a 6-1 6-2 6-4 win over Australian teenager Alex de Minaur.
“A positive match against a player with a lot of energy, some tough moments,” the world No.1 told the BBC.
The Spaniard, seeded second, will play either Fabio Fognini or Jiri Vesely in the next round.
Nadal’s win also means he will remain world No.1 in the rankings when they are next released on 16 July.
Elsewhere, three-time champion Novak Djokovic came from a set down to beat British No.1 Kyle Edmund 4-6 6-3 6-2 6-4 on Centre Court.
Djokovic, 31, will next play Russian Karen Khachanov in the last 16 on Monday.
