The defending champion, Barbora Krejcikova, exited No 1 Court to rousing applause after struggling through injuries in her 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 loss against the No 10 seed, Emma Navarro, in which she became increasingly distressed and broke down in tears towards the end.
It is only the third time the women’s defending champion has lost in the third round in the Open era, after Venus Williams in 2006 and Petra Kvitova in 2015.
“It was tough conditions,” said Navarro. “She was dealing with some injury timeouts. It definitely was tough to find my rhythm. But I stuck in there, toughed it out.”
After an early hold from Navarro, the defending champion began her service game with a double fault, but an accurate ace and a well-timed slice got her back on track to make it 1-1. The rain then delayed play for 15 minutes before Krejcikova earned a hard-fought double break; her smooth forehands left Navarro scrambling.
Serving to stay in the set, the American targeted Krejcikova’s backhand and took the game due to a wayward shot from the Czech. The 29-year-old, seeded 17, responded with a quick serve and forehand combination, then clinched the set with an accurate serve.
Hoping to come back from her first set dropped at Wimbledon, Navarro held before breaking with creative shotmaking. Krejcikova failed to deal with a tricky lob before a backhand into the net took the match to a decider and upped her unforced error count to 17 in the set. After composing herself in the locker room, Krejcikova held before failing to take five chances to break. Navarro then followed up her own hold with a break after Krejcikova’s sixth double fault and slice straight into the net.
Two back-to-back breaks from both gave Navarro a 3-2 lead before another pause in play as Krejcikova had her blood pressure checked. Despite looking exhausted and in tears, the older player continued to fight, but Navarro held twice before sealing the win with an unreturnable serve down the line.
“The first set I was playing too fast and playing into her game, letting her do what she wanted to do,” said Navarro. “She was doing it really well. I regrouped, tried to slow things down a bit from my side and make her look at some different shots. Just tried to make her as uncomfortable as I could.”
The American will face Mirra Andreeva, whose teenage dream continued as she stormed to a 6-1, 6-3 win against Hailey Baptiste. The Russian has now won 35 WTA Tour main draw matches in 2025, the third most behind the world No 1, Aryna Sabalenka, (44) and Iga Swiatek (37), and is the youngest player to reach the fourth round at the first three slams of the season since Nicole Vaidisova in 2006.
“My goal for the match was just to stay focused and be aggressive,” said Andreeva. “I’m super happy with my level today.”
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As for Baptiste, who fell in qualifying at Nottingham and Eastbourne, her lack of experience on grass was evident, with the American unable to get her strong forehand and serve under control. Franklin Tiafoe, Baptiste’s coach, was joined in the box by his twin, Frances. Baptiste is a childhood friend and credits the brothers for helping her rise through the ranks. She began nervously, double-faulting to give Andreeva an early break and the 18-year-old capitalised with a comfortable hold, using precise drop shots to establish an early lead.
Andreeva failed to return a a 121mph serve in the American’s composed second service game. Baptiste continued the pressure on Andreeva’s serve, forcing deuce with close net action, but another break and hold from the Russian, with her backhand helping her hit 10 winners in the set, made it 5-1. Serving to stay in the set, Baptiste attacked from the off in an attempt to narrow the gaps, but Andreeva hit two more winners to break.
Baptiste’s play in the second was to target Andreeva’s weaker forehand, but despite some wobbly points, the No 7 seed held serve. A first ace on Baptiste’s serve helped to make it 1-1. A hold and a break from Andreeva followed, with Baptiste still unable to control her long forehands. “I found a good balance between slicing and changing the rhythm with the forehand,” said Andreeva. “When I had time I used my forehand. It gave me a lot of benefits.”
Baptiste remained patient and broke. Andreeva broke back immediately to love and held after Baptiste failed to take five break points before securing the win.
Meanwhile, Clara Tauson secured her first win against Elena Rybakina, 7-6 (6), 6-3, and a meeting with Swiatek in the fourth round. Before this week, the world No 22 had never won a main draw match here, but she displayed good form to secure her first top-20 win on grass. It was a disappointing performance from the 2022 champion, who failed to capitalise on a main draw that had lost six top-10 seeds.
