Jasmine Paolini, last year’s Wimbledon runner-up, has been knocked out of the tournament in a surprise loss to Russia’s Kamilla Rakhimova. The Italian, who was seeded fourth, lost 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 on Wednesday.
Paolini, known for her cheerful personality and attacking style, couldn’t find her rhythm in the final set on Court Three. Despite a hard-fought win in the first round, she struggled again and couldn’t stop Rakhimova from taking a 4-2 lead in the third set.
Rakhimova, who is unseeded, secured the biggest win of her career by beating a top-10 player for the first time. She won the match on her fourth match point after Paolini hit a shot long.
With Paolini out, only world number one Aryna Sabalenka remains from the top five seeds in the third round. This is only the second time in the professional era that just one of the top five women’s seeds has made it this far, the last time was in 2018.
