Fourth seed Maria Sharapova was eliminated in two sets by a Swiss qualifier at the WTA Wuhan Open on Wednesday, while world No.8 Angelique Kerber crushed her opponent to make the quarter-finals.
Sharapova was defeated by Timea Bacsinszky in a tight match 7-6 (7-3) 7-5 – a result which broke the hearts of the local crowd who were supporting the Russian world No.4.
The tournament has already suffered the loss of a string of seeds, including world No.1 Serena Williams, and local hero Li Na announced her retirement days before it started.
Switzerland’s Bacsinszky will go on to play either Casey Dellacqua of Australia or Denmark’s world No.8 Caroline Wozniacki in the quarter-finals.
Kerber, the seventh seed in Wuhan, lost only two games in her match with Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic, winning 6-1 6-1.
French players Caroline Garcia and Alize Cornet also made it through to the quarter-finals.
Cornet took the first set against Belgian Kirsten Flipkens in a tie-breaker before she was given a shock in the second, in which she won only one game.
But the world No.22 appeared more dominant in the third set, finally sealing victory 7-6 (7-4) 1-6 6-3.
Garcia continued her fine run at Wuhan with victory over Coco Vandeweghe.
The 20-year-old rising star, who claimed the scalp of world No.6 Caroline Radwanska in the second round, defeated the American 6-3 6-2 to make it through to the quarter-finals.
But it was a sad day for Spaniard Garbine Muguruza, another player who performed heroics in the second round, after she withdraw from her third-round match with gastritis before a ball was hit.
Muguruza had defeated second seed Simona Halep in the second round.
Her opponent, Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, will meet Kerber in the quarters.
The Wuhan Open in the central province of Hubei features the world’s top 20 women players and reaches its climax on Saturday.
Among the remaining seeds are Canadian Eugenie Bouchard (six) and Petra Kvitova (three) of the Czech Republic, who play their third-round matches later on Wednesday.
Cornet will face Bouchard while Garcia will meet Kvitova in the quarters if the seeds win.
