Eala stuns Swiatek at Wimbledon, Mertens ousts Rybakina

Defending champion Iga Swiatek was knocked out of the third round of Wimbledon after a 7-6(9) 6-2 loss to rising Filipina Alexandra Eala at the All England Club on Saturday.

Last year's triumph ended years of questions about Swiatek's ability to excel on grass but the Polish third seed came up short in a fierce battle against 29th seed Eala and was left stunned on Centre Court.

Elsewhere, second seed Elena Rybakina's hopes of a second Grand Slam title this year and taking over as world number one ended as she faded to a 7-6(4) 6-1 third-round defeat by Belgian Elise Mertens.

The Kazakh never recovered from losing a first-set tiebreak and 25th seed Mertens seized control thereafter to reach the last-16 at Wimbledon for the fourth time.

Rybakina, who added this year's Australian Open title to her 2022 Wimbledon crown, needed to reach at least the quarter-finals to have a chance of overhauling Aryna Sabalenka at the top of the WTA rankings.

But she produced a flat performance on Court One against the wily 30-year-old Mertens whose greater variety proved decisive in her only her second win over Rybakina in nine meetings.

Mertens will fancy her chances of posting a best-ever Wimbledon run with Czech Marie Bouzkova up next.

Italian 13th seed Jasmine Paolini overwhelmed Greece's Maria Sakkari 6-1 6-2 to reach the fourth round, while qualifier Ashlyn Krueger celebrated American Independence Day with a comprehensive 6-3 6-2 victory over Ukraine's Daria Snigur in the third round. 

Madison Keys upset sixth seed and last year's runner-up Amanda Anisimova 3-6 6-2 6-3 in an all-American third-round battle on Centre Court, but there was no joy for US sisters Venus and Serena Williams who pulled out of their much-anticipated doubles match because of Serena's knee injury.

The sisters, now aged 46 and 44, last played doubles together at the 2022 US Open.

Two other Americans were knocked out in early matches on Saturday. Emma Navarro, the 23rd seed, was beaten 6-2 4-6 6-1 by fast-improving 12th seed Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine.

In the men's draw, 23-year-old Zachary Svajda, on his Wimbledon debut, managed to take a set off fifth-seeded Australian Alex de Minaur before bowing out 6-2 5-7 6-2 6-4.