Eala and Mertens stun Swiatek and Rybakina as Wimbledon women’s draw opens up

Wimbledon’s women’s draw was blown open on Saturday as defending champion Iga Swiatek and second seed Elena Rybakina both fell in the third round at the All England Club.

Swiatek, the third seed and reigning champion, was beaten 7-6(9), 6-2 by Alexandra Eala on Centre Court. The opening set was the hinge of the match: Eala took it in a long tie-break, then carried that momentum into a more decisive second set to end Swiatek’s title defence before the second week.

The result followed another major upset on No. 1 Court, where Elise Mertens defeated 2022 Wimbledon champion Rybakina 7-6(4), 6-1. Rybakina had entered the match as one of the leading contenders on grass, but Mertens came through a tight first set and then accelerated away in the second.

The two results significantly change the shape of the women’s tournament. With Rybakina out, Aryna Sabalenka is assured of remaining world No. 1, while Swiatek’s defeat means Wimbledon will once again have no successful women’s singles title defence this year.

There was another notable Centre Court result later in the day, as Madison Keys recovered from a set down to beat last year’s finalist Amanda Anisimova 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 in an all-American third-round match. Keys’ win adds another former Grand Slam champion to a last-16 field that suddenly looks much less predictable.

The men’s draw had fewer shocks among the headline names. Alexander Zverev reached the fourth round with a 6-2, 7-6(4), 6-4 win over Marcos Giron, keeping the second seed on course after a composed serving performance.

The home crowd did get its own five-set story, though. British wild card Arthur Fery came through the longest match of the tournament so far, beating Zizou Bergs 2-6, 7-5, 2-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(5) on Court 18 after almost four hours and 40 minutes. Fery had to recover from a set and a break down more than once, including from 4-1 behind in both the fourth and fifth sets, and also needed repeated treatment for nosebleeds. The win makes him the first British male wild card to reach the Wimbledon fourth round since Andrew Foster in 1993, keeps British singles interest alive into the second week, and sets up a last-16 meeting with Grigor Dimitrov.

For Wimbledon, Saturday felt like one of those middle-weekend turning points: not a final, not even a quarter-final, but a day that changes how the whole tournament is read. Eala and Mertens are now more than dangerous names in the draw; they are the players who removed two of the biggest grass-court reference points from the title race.