Top seed Serena Williams’s challenge for a sixth Wimbledon singles title fizzled out with a shock 1-6 6-3 6-4 defeat by France’s Alize Cornet yesterday.
The 32-year-old American was untroubled in the first set but her game disintegrated as 25th seed Cornet took control in front of a stunned crowd on Court One.
Persistent rain at the All England Club meant only two games were possible when play started and when the players returned four hours later it was Williams who looked determined to make up for lost time with some powerful tennis.
The 24-year-old Cornet refused to fade away though and with Williams looking uncomfortable moving on the grass she took the second set with some accurate shot-making.
A desperate-looking Williams dropped serve at 2-2 in the decider and then again two games later and Cornet held her nerve to reach the last 16.
Earlier in the evening, Rafael Nadal again offered a chink of light to an opponent on his way to the last 16 but another former champion Maria Sharapova was taking no chances under the Centre Court roof.
For the third match in a row Spaniard Nadal found himself a set in arrears against an inspired adversary, this time in the form of Kazakhstan’s 63rd-ranked Mikhail Kukushkin, before switching on the after-burners to romp home 6-7 6-1 6-1 6-1.
Sharapova then won 11 games in a row after a sluggish start against American Alison Riske, roaring into the second week with a 6-3 6-0 victory.
Among those watching Nadal and Sharapova continue their title assaults was former England soccer captain David Beckham, one of numerous high-profile sportsmen and women occupying the Royal Box.
Nadal’s matches have followed a familiar pattern.
Against Slovakian Martin Klizan and Czech Lukas Rosol he was overpowered in the opening set, so it was no surprise to witness him slip behind against Kukushkin, one of three men in the third round with a female coach (in his case his wife).
Despite losing the tiebreak there was never the same sense of danger as in the previous round against the hard-hitting Rosol who knocked out the Spaniard two years ago.
Once 14-times grand slam champion Nadal broke early in the second set Kukushkin’s belief drained away and there was only ever going to be one outcome.
The rain eventually relented at around 18.30 but it was too late to prevent the schedule being shredded with Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka’s clash with Denis Istomin and Feliciano Lopez’s duel with John Isner being cancelled.
With Wimbledon the only grand slam not to play on middle Sunday, tournament officials will have some re-organising to do ahead of tomorrow which is traditionally last-16 day in the men’s and women’s singles.
Other results: (men) Federer bt Giraldo 6-3 6-1 6-3. (Women) Halep bt Bencic 6-4 6-1.