Chinese second seed and Australian Open champion Li Na has been knocked out of Wimbledon, losing 7-6 (7/5) 7-6 (7/5) in the third round to Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic.
Friday’s defeat followed a first-round exit for Li at the French Open last month as Wimbledon again proved her undoing.
In eight appearances at the All England Club, the 32-year-old has never got beyond the quarter-finals.
The match ended in bizarre circumstances with Li, facing match point, successfully challenging a forehand which had been called long.
But the 28-year-old Zahlavova Strycova, the world number 43 who will next face Caroline Wozniacki, was able to quickly celebrate victory for real when Li served up a seventh double fault on the replayed point.
Victory represented a first last-16 spot at a major for the Czech in her 32nd Grand Slam appearance.
“I am very happy. I played a great match and I believed I could do it. It’s my biggest win,” said the player whose low-key career only previously hit the headlines when she served a six-month doping ban in 2013.
Zahlavova Strycova said she did not hear Li challenge on match point against the background of noise in Court One.
“I thought it was over. I had to get my concentration back but happily, for me, she served a double fault.”