LONDON — A most unpredictable first week at Wimbledon delivered yet another surprise Friday when reigning Australian Open women’s singles champion Madison Keys, seeded sixth at the All England Club, was a lopsided loser in the third round, eliminated 6-3, 6-3 by 104th-ranked Laura Siegemund.
The 30-year-old American’s exit left just one of the top six women in the bracket before the first weekend of the grass-court Grand Slam tournament: No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, who stuck around by taking the last five games and defeating 2021 U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu of Britain, 7-6 (6), 6-4, at a boisterous Centre Court at night.
No. 2 Coco Gauff, No. 3 Jessica Pegula, No. 4 Jasmine Paolini and No. 5 Zheng Qinwen already were out. The men’s singles field also has experienced its share of surprises, including a Wimbledon-record 13 seeded players gone in the first round.
Siegemund ultimately got the result she wanted, if not the performance along the way.
“At times, it wasn’t the best quality, let’s say. But I managed, and in the end, it’s just important to find solutions and I did that well. Kept my nerves in the end,” the 37-year-old German said, then added with a laugh: “There are always nerves. If you don’t have nerves in this moment, you’re probably dead.”