Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva celebrates winning against Poland's Iga Swiatek. Photo: HENRY NICHOLLS
Iga Swiatek's Wimbledon hopes went up in flames as the world number one disintegrated under huge pressure from fiery Kazakh Yulia Putintseva who battled back superbly to win their third-round clash 3-6 6-1 6-2.
Swiatek appeared to be cruising when she took the first set without having to get out of second gear, but the wheels came off in spectacular fashion.
Putintseva broke the top-seeded Pole twice in the second set and twice more in the third to set up a fourth-round clash against Jelena Ostapenko.
Iga Swiatek of Poland leaves after losing the Women's Singles Third Round match against Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan. Photo: TAKUYA MATSUMOTO
Svitolina ends Jabeur's Wimbledon dream in third round
Fifty-one weeks after a heartbroken Ons Jabeur trudged off Wimbledon's Centre Court with tears streaking down her face after a second successive defeat in the final, the tormented Tunisian was left to digest another painful loss.
Jabeur's long cherished dream to hold aloft the Venus Rosewater Dish was dashed for at least another year following a brutal 6-1 7-6(4) defeat by Elina Svitolina in the third round.
The popular Tunisian could have been 2-0 up right at the start as she had a break point in Svitolina's opening service game and a game point in the next.
Instead it was Ukrainian 21st seed Svitolina who struck the killer blows early to open up a 2-0 lead and she never moved her eye off the ball as she romped through to bag the first set after Jabeur tamely netted a service return on set point.
The 10th seed managed to put up more of a fight in the second set and even had set point at 6-5 up on Svitolina's serve.
But the nightmare memories Jabeur is starting to collect from Centre Court will have another addition as her forehand down the line fell millilitres wide and Svitolina grabbed that reprieve to get out of trouble.
A backhand error on match point condemned Jabeur to her earliest defeat at the All England Club for five years, leaving Svitolina to lap up the applause from the crowd which included her husband Gael Monfils.
She will next face China's Wang Xinyu.
And Emma Raducanu who will meet New Zealand's Lulu Sun in the fourth round, has withdrawn from her mixed doubles match alongside fellow Brit Andy Murray due to a wrist issue, ending Murray's Wimbledon farewell.
There is no suggestion that Raducanu's involvement in the match against Lulu Sun is in danger.
- Reuters