Former champion Elena Rybakina knocked out of Wimbledon in third-round upset

Former champion and second seed Elena Rybakina is out of Wimbledon after a third-round defeat to Elise Mertens in the biggest upset of the tournament so far.

Rybakina, the women’s singles champion in 2022 and this season’s Australian Open champion, had won her previous six matches against the Belgian 25th seed Mertens, but was beaten 7-6 (4) 6-1 on Court No 1.

The 27-year-old arrived at Wimbledon following a difficult run of form, including a second-round defeat in Berlin to wildcard Alexandra Eala and a quarter-final defeat to Katie Boulter at Queen’s.

Rybakina, who won her second grand slam title by beating Aryna Sabalenka to win the Australian Open in January, also suffered a second-round defeat at last month’s French Open, losing to the unseeded Yuliia Starodubtseva.

Rybakina needed to reach at least the quarter-finals to have a chance of overhauling Sabalenka at the top of the WTA rankings. But she produced a flat performance on Court ⁠One against the wily 30-year-old Mertens whose greater variety proved decisive in her only her second win over Rybakina in nine meetings.

Mertens, a reigning Wimbledon doubles champion, won nine points in a row during one dominant spell in the second set and although she showed a few nerves when serving for the match she ended the contest with an ace. She will fancy her ‌chances of ​posting a best-ever Wimbledon ‌run with Czech Marie ​Bouzkova up next.

Includes reporting from Reuters