Jasmine Paolini became the latest casualty in Wimbledon’s trend of upsets on Wednesday. Last year’s finalist faced an unexpected second-round defeat against Russian world number 62 Kamilla Rakhimova.
A year after her journey to the All England Club final, Paolini joined several highly-ranked players in exiting the grass-court Grand Slam early.
The Italian fourth seed, who lost to Barbora Krejcikova in the 2024 Wimbledon championship match, lost 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 on Court Three, which lasted two hours and 18 minutes.
After competing in the finals of both the French Open and Wimbledon last year, Paolini has struggled to advance past the quarter-finals in her previous four Grand Slam tournaments, although she did clinch the Roland Garros doubles title alongside partner Sara Errani in June.
The 29-year-old’s loss to Rakhimova means that four of the top five seeds in the women’s singles have been ousted within three days of the tournament.
Second seed Coco Gauff, third seed Jessica Pegula, and fifth seed Zheng Qinwen were all eliminated in the first round.
World number one Aryna Sabalenka remains the only top-five seed still in contention after her victory over Marie Bouzkova in the second round on Wednesday.
