And then there were none. Karolína Plíšková lost in straight sets to Kiki Bertens at Wimbledon on Monday, to ensure that none of the top ten women’s seeds would make it beyond the fourth round for the first time in Open Era history.
Pliskova’s surprise 6-3, 7-6 (1) defeat means that just five of the 32 seeded players remain in the draw, the highest being 2016 finalist Angelique Kerber, who is seeded eleventh.
Victory over Plíšková is another notable scalp for 20th seed Bertens, who had never been beyond the third round at Wimbledon and only once before won as many matches at a Grand Slam, when she enjoyed a run to the semi-finals of the 2016 French Open.
Bertens, widely regarded as a clay-court specialist, beat five-time champion Venus Williams in the previous round and was superb again today, racing into an early lead against Plíšková before securing just her seventh career victory over a top-ten rated player.
She made an impressive start to the match on No. 2 Court, breaking Plíšková in just her second service game. Plíšková would go on to break back but was unable to hold her next service game, as Bertens moved into a one set lead.
Bertens made an even better start to the second set, breaking Plíšková immediately despite at one point trailing the opening game 40-15. Again Plíšková managed to break Bertens’ serve to briefly level the set, only for the Dutchwoman to prevail in a one-sided tiebreak.
Bertens will now play either Germany’s Julia Görges or Croatia’s Donna Vekić for a place in the semi-finals.
Plíšková is meanwhile left to reflect on another disappointing Wimbledon campaign. The former World No. 1 and 2016 US Open finalist had exited at the second round stage for the past five Championships, despite her good record at other grass tournaments.
