Defending champion Iga Swiatek and 2022 winner Elena Rybakina fell in stunning upsets in the third round Saturday at Wimbledon.
Poland’s Swiatek, the No. 3 seed, was ousted 7-6 (9), 6-2 by up-and-comer Alexandra Eala, the No. 29 seed. Belgium’s Elise Mertens shocked No. 2 seed Rybakina, 7-6 (4), 6-1.
Rybakina won the Australian Open in January and hoped to add to her Grand Slam collection this season. She was bounced in the second round of the French Open by Ukraine’s Yuliia Starodubtseva in May.
Mertens, the No. 25 seed, entered the match with a 1-7 record against Kazakhstan’s Rybakina.
“I have no words actually,” Mertens said in her on-court interview. “I’m very happy I won that first set and kept the momentum going. She’s an incredible player. She’s won Wimbledon in the past. A really tough opponent.”
Mertens is a 10-time winner on the WTA Tour. Her best finish in a Grand Slam event came in 2018 in Australia in the quarterfinals.
It was the first top-10 win on grass for Mertens, who will meet No. 21 Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic in the next round. Bouzkova rallied for a 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4 win against Russia’s Liudmila Samsonova.
The 21-year-old Eala saved two set points in the 84-minute opening set. She improved to 2-1 against Swiatek and is now 7-4 against top-10 opponents. Eala also became the first woman from the Philippines to reach the second week of a Grand Slam.
“Maybe for someone like Iga who has won so many slams … or maybe someone like Serena or Venus (Williams) this achievement may seem small, but for someone who grew up in the Philippines … for her, this is everything,” Eala said in her on-court interview.
Eala advanced to a fourth-round clash with No. 13 seed Italian Jasmine Paolini, a 2024 finalist at the All England Club. Paolini cruised to a 6-1, 6-2 defeat of Greece’s Maria Sakkari.
No. 12 Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine held off No. 23 Emma Navarro 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 and Ashlyn Krueger eliminated Ukraine’s Daria Snigur 6-3, 6-2.
–Field Level Media
