Swiatek and Rybakina out on day of Wimbledon upsets

Defending champion Iga Swiatek followed second seed Elena Rybakina out of the door at Wimbledon on a day of upsets on Saturday.

Third seed Swiatek, a six-time Grand Slam champion, fell 7-6 (11-9) 6-2 to highly rated Filipina Alexandra Eala in an enthralling third-round match on Centre Court.

That came an hour after 2022 champion Elena Rybakina was beaten 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 in the third round by Belgium’s Elise Mertens.

It is the second successive year that Kazakhstan’s Rybakina – who was crowned Australian Open champion in January – has failed to reach the second week at Wimbledon.

Her defeat on Court One also means Aryna Sabalenka will remain as the women’s world number one, regardless of how deep into the tournament the Belarusian goes.

Her loss is arguably more shocking than Swiatek’s, who has had a difficult run of form since winning Wimbledon last year.

She had a shaky start to her title defence, ending up in tears after coming through a tight three-set opening match against Taylor Townsend.

But this match against Eala – who had her breakthrough moment with victory over Swiatek at the 2025 Miami Open – always had the potential to wrongfoot the defending champion.

Eala threw herself to the ground and covered her face with her hands after saving four break points before converting her third match point in a lengthy final game.

Swiatek’s defeat means no woman has defended the women’s singles title at Wimbledon since Serena Williams in 2016.

Rybakina misses another chance for top ranking

With just 947 points separating Sabalenka and Rybakina in the world rankings prior to the start of the grass-court Grand Slam, 27-year-old Rybakina had to reach at least the quarter-finals to stand any chance of challenging for top spot.

After her triumph in Melbourne at the start of the year, Rybakina slumped to a second-round exit on the French Open clay in May before early defeats on the grass of Queen’s and Berlin followed in the lead up to Wimbledon.

She was taken to a deciding set by France’s Lois Boisson in her opening match but faced no such issues against American Caty McNally in the second round, dropping just three games on her way to a comprehensive victory.

But Mertens proved her undoing, and after a tight opening set went in the Belgian’s favour on the tie-break, Rybakina failed to recover.

Mertens won nine points in succession in a dominant second set before defying late jitters on serve – which led to two wasted match points – to clinch victory with an ace.

For Mertens, a fourth-round meeting with Marie Bouzkova awaits after the Czech 21st seed came from behind to defeat Liudmila Samsonova in three sets.

“I have no words, actually. I’m very happy I won that first set and kept the momentum going,” said the 30-year-old, a two-time women’s doubles champion at SW19.

“This is definitely one of the biggest wins of my career, especially here at Wimbledon. I’ve had some success here before. I’m just very pleased with my performance today.”