Devastating shocks rocked Wimbledon this weekend, with the top stars of the women's circuit — Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, Iga Swiatek, Amanda Anisimova, and Belinda Bencic — all eliminated prematurely from the tournament. The ousting of these favorites, along with the Roland Garros champion, Mirra Andreeva, and the eighth seed, Elina Svitolina, who fell earlier in the week, has left the battle for the title at the All England Club wide open.
Sabalenka, the current world number 1, failed to reach the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time since 2019, after being surprised by Naomi Osaka. The Japanese player, a four-time Grand Slam champion, secured her place in the fourth round at SW19 for the first time, defeating Sabalenka 6-2, 7-6 (7-2) on Centre Court. Later, Coco Gauff secured her debut in the Wimbledon quarter-finals by coming back from a set down to win against Bencic 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, just minutes before the curfew. With this result, Gauff, the seventh seed, reached the top 8 for the first time, while Bencic fell short of her performance last year, when she reached the semifinals.
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Saturday was marked by even greater surprises. Alex Eala, the 29th seed, eliminated defending champion Iga Swiatek with a dazzling performance on Centre Court: 7-6 (11-9), 6-2. Second seed Elena Rybakina was also defeated by Elise Mertens (26th seed), with scores of 7-6 (7-4), 6-1. Amanda Anisimova, the runner-up in 2025, lost the all-American duel against Madison Keys, who won 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.
These eliminations resulted in a significant drop in points for some of the top players, with an immediate impact on the live WTA ranking after the seventh day of the tournament. Sabalenka, who was defending 780 points for her semi-final appearance last year, only added 240 points by reaching the round of 16, resulting in a loss of 540 points in the next ranking update. Nevertheless, the Belarusian will remain at the top of the world hierarchy, thanks to Rybakina's elimination.
For world number 2 Rybakina, the news is mixed: she will not lose any points, as she also exited in the third round in 2023, but she squandered another golden opportunity to reach number 1. Currently, the Kazakh is 407 points behind Sabalenka in the live standings.
Swiatek, who started Wimbledon in third place and was defending 2,000 points for last year's title, was eliminated in the third round. As a result, she loses 1,870 points and drops three positions, now sitting in sixth place, with the possibility of falling further. Anisimova, who was a finalist in 2025 and earned 1,300 points, will lose 1,170 in the next update and is provisionally one position lower in the live ranking. Bencic, who started in 11th place, drops three positions to 14th after losing 540 points for not reaching the semi-finals again.
In terms of prize money, Rybakina, Swiatek, and Anisimova received £185,000 (approximately €248,000) for their third-round appearances, while Sabalenka and Bencic earned £300,000 (about €403,000).
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