Top-ranked Simona Halep became the ninth woman in the top 10 seeds to be upset in the first week of Wimbledon, falling 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 to Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan in the third round on Saturday.
No. 7 Karolina Pliskova is the only top-10 seed left in the women’s draw heading to the round of 16. The clear favorite is No. 25 seed Serena Williams, seeking her eighth Wimbledon title and first Grand Slam title since Sept. 1 childbirth.
Williams gets fellow mom and Russian qualifier Evgeniya Rodina in the fourth round on Monday and would not play a seed before the semifinals. She is the only Grand Slam singles winner left in the bottom half of the draw.
The top half is headlined by No. 12 Jelena Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open champion, and two-time Grand Slam winner and 11th seed Angelique Kerber, who beat No. 18 Naomi Osaka 6-2, 6-4 on Saturday.
Halep, who won her first Grand Slam at the French Open last month, made the Wimbledon quarterfinals the last two years and the semifinals in 2014.
Rafael Nadal had no such problems, and guaranteed he will stay No. 1 in the men’s rankings as he reached the fourth round with a 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 victory over 19-year-old Australian Alex de Minaur.
Nadal hasn’t dropped a set so far in the tournament. Against de Minaur, he faced only three break points and saved them all, while producing nearly twice as many winners, 30-17.
This is Nadal’s eighth trip to the round of 16 at the All England Club, where he has won two of his 17 Grand Slam titles. A year ago, the Spaniard lost at that stage.
He and Roger Federer have swapped the No. 1 ranking a half-dozen times this season, the most since there were eight changes in 1999.
Fourth seed Alexander Zverev was upset by Latvian qualifier Ernests Gulbis, a former top-10 player, 7-6 (2), 4-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-0.
Fifth-seeded Juan Martin del Potro and former finalist Milos Raonic advanced.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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"The greatest win of her singles career"
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 7, 2018
Su-Wei Hsieh sends home Simona Halep at #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/t4J4lGAtub