World number one and French Open champion Simona Halep was knocked out of Wimbledon on Saturday, losing to Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-Wei 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 in the third round as the All England Club seeds’ carnage claimed another victim.
Defeat for Halep means that Karolina Pliskova, at number seven, is the only women’s top 10 seed to reach the fourth round.
It’s the first time in the Open era that none of the top five women’s seeds have made the last 16 of a Slam.
It also further boosted Serena Williams’s chances of becoming an eight-time Wimbledon champion.
Hsieh, the world number 48, battled back from 2-5 down in the final set and saved a match point when the Romanian served for the match at 5-3 in the decider.
It will be Hsieh’s first appearance in the last 16 at Wimbledon where she will face Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia.
“It’s my first win against a world number one,” said 26-year-old Hsieh.
“It’s amazing. I was 2-5 down in the final set but the crowd pushed me to fight.”
Halep was left to rue her lost opportunities.
- ‘Unprofessional’ Halep -
“I was leading the match, I was up, and I couldn’t finish it,” said the 2014 semi-finalist.
“It was an unprofessional attitude from me today.”
Other early winners on Saturday included Belgium’s Alison Van Uytvanck who followed her upset of defending champion Garbine Muguruza by beating Anett Kontaveit, the 28th seeded Estonian, 6-2, 6-3.
Van Uytvanck will meet fellow last-16 debutant Russian 14th seed Daria Kasatkina, who defeated Ashleigh Barty of Australia 7-5, 6-3.
Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic, a former top 10 player whose ranking slumped out of the top 300 last year after wrist surgery, made the fourth round for the second time with a 6-1, 7-6 (7/3) win over Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro.
Bencic, now at 56 in the world, next faces two-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber who swept past Naomi Osaka of Japan.
Results
Hsieh Su-Wei (TPE) bt Simona Halep (ROM x1) 3-6, 6-4, 7-5
Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) bt Elise Mertens (BEL x15) 6-2, 6-2
Jelena Ostapenko (LAT x12) bt Vitalia Diatchenko (RUS) 6-0, 6-4
Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR) bt Daria Gavrilova (AUS x26) 6-3, 6-1
Alison Van Uytvanck (BEL) bt Anett Kontaveit (EST x28) 6-2, 6-3
Darya Kasatkina (RUS x14) bt Ashleigh Barty (AUS x17) 7-5, 6-3
Angelique Kerber (GER x11) bt Naomi Osaka (JPN x18) 6-2, 6-4
Belinda Bencic (SUI) bt Carla Suárez (ESP x27) 6-1, 7-6 (7/3)
With inputs from AFP
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