Top seed Iga Swiatek and a tearful Coco Gauff both crashed out in straight sets in the last 16 on Sunday on another day of shocks at the Australian Open.
Swiatek’s defeat to Elena Rybakina makes it the first Grand Slam in the Open era -- since 1968 -- to lose the top two seeds in the men’s and women’s draws before the quarter-finals.
There was no such trouble for Jessica Pegula, however, the American third seed surging into the last eight with a 7-5, 6-2 win over former French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova.
Wimbledon champion Rybakina swept past the 2022 French and US Open winner Swiatek 6-4, 6-4 in 1hr 29min at a stunned Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne.
Moscow-born Kazakh Rybakina, seeded 22, moves on to a last-eight encounter with Jelena Ostapenko.
The Latvian 17th seed provided the second upset of a crazy few minutes by knocking out seventh seed Gauff 7-5, 6-3 on neighbouring Margaret Court Arena.
The 18-year-old Gauff broke down in tears during an emotional post-match press conference.
World number one and hot favourite Swiatek admitted that Rybakina deserved to win.
“I felt the pressure,” Swiatek, 21, said. “I felt that I didn’t want to lose instead of wanting to win.”
Swiatek, who dominated women’s tennis last year and is already a three-time major champion, added: “I felt today that I don’t have that much left to fight even more.
“I felt like I took a step back in terms of how I approach these tournaments, and I maybe wanted it a little bit too hard.
“So I’m going to try to chill out a little bit more.”
Swiatek follows second seed Ons Jabeur out the Melbourne exit door, the Tunisian having gone out in the second round in another surprise.
The American Gauff had been favourite to defeat Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open winner.
But the 25-year-old Ostapenko was always in control to ensure that Gauff must wait at least a bit longer for a first major title.
Gauff told reporters it was a “little bit frustrating”, then her voice suddenly began to crack, the tears flowed and the teenager was offered a tissue.
“I’m OK, we can keep going,” she said.
‘never doubted’
Former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko said Sunday she never doubted she could win another major as she reached her first Grand Slam quarter-final since 2018.
The 2017 Roland Garros winner last reached the last eight of a Slam at Wimbledon four and a half years ago and has been clawing her way back into the elite after dropping outside the top 40 in 2019.
Now she faces current Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina for a place in the semi-finals.
Asked by reporters if she had ever thought a second Grand Slam title was beyond her, the Latvian world number 17 said: “I honestly haven’t really doubted it.”
She added: “I always knew and believed in my game. If I play well, I can beat almost anyone.”
The 25-year-old Ostapenko was just 19 when her life was changed by winning the French Open and she said it took a long time to adjust after being thrust into the spotlight.
“Everybody expected you almost to win every single tournament, which is crazy, because you are still a human and you cannot feel great every day,” she said of the expectation placed on her young shoulders.
“I needed some time to get used to it. Of course, a lot of attention from everywhere outside the court, like photo shoots and all those kind of things.
“You become more popular in your country. Everybody is watching you. Of course it’s great, but I needed some time to get used to it.
“I’m just more hungry now to win another Grand Slam and just to play well, to be back in the top 10 and just to play consistent.”