Australian Open champ Madison Keys is the latest upset victim at Wimbledon
Keys' exit left just one of the top six women in the bracket before the end of Week 1: No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, who stuck around by claiming the last five games and defeating 2021 U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu of Britain 7-6 (6), 6-4 at a boisterous Centre Court at night.
No. 2 Coco Gauff, No. 3 Jessica Pegula, No. 4 Jasmine Paolini and No. 5 Zheng Qinwen already were out. The men's field also has seen its share of surprises, including a Wimbledon-record 13 seeds gone in the first round.
'At times it wasn't the best quality, let's say. But I managed, and in the end, it's just important to find solutions and I did that well. Kept my nerves in the end,' Siegemund said, then added with a laugh: 'There are always nerves. If you don't have nerves in this moment, you're probably dead.'
Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam event in which Keys hasn't reached at least the semifinals, but she has participated in the quarterfinals there twice and is enjoying a breakthrough 2025, including her title at Melbourne Park in January.
Keys' power versus Siegemund's spins and slices offered quite a contrast in styles, and this outcome was surprisingly one-way traffic on a windy afternoon at the No. 2 Court. The key statistic, undoubtedly, was this: Keys made 31 unforced errors, 20 more than Siegemund.
When it ended with one last backhand return from Keys that sailed wide, Siegemund smiled broadly, raised her arms and jumped up and down repeatedly.
'You can't not be happy when you beat a great player like Madison,' Siegemund said.
How unexpected is this for Siegemund? Before this year, her career record at the All England Club was 2-5, and she never had made it past the second round. Taking into account all four Grand Slam tournaments, she had reached the third round only once in 28 previous appearances, getting to the quarterfinals at the 2020 French Open.
'There is technically no pressure for me,' said Siegemund, at 37 the oldest woman remaining in the tournament. 'I try to remember that I only play for myself. I don't feel like I need to prove anything anymore. My boyfriend often tells me that.'
On Sunday, the German faces another participant no one could have predicted would be at this stage of the grass-court major: 101st-ranked Solana Sierra of Argentina, who lost in qualifying and made it into the main draw when another player withdrew.
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