Another Day, Another Upset at Wimbledon: No. 1 Simona Halep Falls

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Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan celebrated her win over Simona Halep of Romania in their third-round match on Saturday at Wimbledon.CreditNic Bothma/EPA, via Shutterstock

By The Associated Press

July 7, 2018

WIMBLEDON, England — Top-ranked Simona Halep was knocked out of Wimbledon by Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan, losing, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5, in the third round.

Halep’s exit means only one of the women’s top 10 seeds remains in the tournament: No. 7 Karolina Pliskova.

Halep, the reigning French Open champion, served for the match at 5-3 in the final set and had a match point in the next game, but she could not capitalize on her chances. Hsieh saved the match point with a backhand winner before holding for 5-5. She then broke Halep in the next game. Halep had two more break points at 6-5 but could not take advantage.

The match featured a total of 14 breaks of serve — seven for each player — including five straight to open the first set.

Hsieh, who is ranked 48th, is in the fourth round of Wimbledon for the first time. She will face Dominika Cibulkova, who defeated 15th-seeded Elise Mertens, 6-2, 6-2.

Halep, the world No. 1, won the French Open last month. But she joined the exodus of seeded players from Wimbledon.CreditToby Melville/Reuters

No. 12 Jelena Ostapenko is the highest seed in that quarter of the draw.

Alison Van Uytvanck, who upset No. 3 Garbiñe Muguruza in the last round, kept her run going with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over No. 28 Anett Kontaveit. Van Uytvanck will meet No. 14 Daria Kasatkina on Monday.

Rafael Nadal, No. 1 in the men’s rankings but the No. 2 seed at Wimbledon, rolled into the fourth round with a 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 victory over the 19-year-old Australian Alex de Minaur.

Nadal, who won the French Open last month, 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.

Fifth-seeded Juan Martín del Potro overcame a hot-tempered display from Benoît Paire to reach the second week at Wimbledon, winning, 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-3.

Paire slammed his racket and shouted loudly at the chair umpire and himself after losing the second set, and his antics had del Potro shaking his head in return.

The match was then interrupted for about 10 minutes with Paire facing another break point at 4-3 while medical staff treated a spectator who had fainted in the heat. When play resumed, Paire saved that point with a service winner but was eventually broken when he netted a backhand, allowing del Potro to serve out the match.

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