Five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams could not pull off a third consecutive comeback, instead joining the parade of top-10 seeds on the way out of the grand slam tournament.
Ninth seed Williams lost to 20th seed Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands 6-2 6-7 (5) 8-6 in the third round.
In each of her first two matches this week, Williams dropped the opening set before eventually winning in three.
She couldn’t quite do the same this time.
Her exit means eight of the top 10 seeded women are gone before the end of Week 1 at the All England Club.
The 38-year-old American, who was last year’s runner-up at Wimbledon, was the oldest entrant in the women’s singles field.
Earlier, American 10th seed Madison Keys lost 7-5 5-7 6-4 to Russian qualifier Evgeniya Rodina in the third round.
The 23-year-old looked like salvaging a place in the last 16 when she clawed her way back from a set and 4-0 down to take the match into a decider on a hot and humid Court Three on Friday.
But world No.120 Rodina, who needed treatment early in the decider, refused to crack and broke the Keys serve at 4-4.
She slipped 15-30 behind as she tried to serve it out but Keys netted an easy volley.
Rodina got to match point with a stunning forehand pass played almost on her knees. Keys then netted a forehand, her 48th unforced error of the match, to hand the Russian victory.
The defeat of the US Open runner-up means only two of the top 10 seeds are left in the women’s draw.
Only two of the top eight survived to the third round — the lowest at Wimbledon in the professional era.