No. 1 Halep falls out at Wimbledon
Top-ranked Simona Halep failed to capitalize on her chances and lost to Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan at Wimbledon on Saturday, losing 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 in the 3rd round.
LONDON — Simona Halep was ready for a vacation. It’s going to start a week earlier than she wanted after she gave away a big lead, wasted a match point and lost Saturday at Wimbledon, joining the procession of top women on the way out.
Ranked and seeded No. 1 and fresh off winning her first Grand Slam title at the French Open, Halep chastised herself as “unprofessional” after bowing out in the third round. She dropped the last five games while losing 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 to Hsieh Su-Wei.
“I just was too negative to myself, talking too much,” Halep said. “I couldn’t stay focused for every ball. Mentally, I was tired. Also physically, I feel tired. My muscles are gone.”
For the first time in Wimbledon history, none of the top five women’s seeds reached the round of 16. Only one of the top 10 seeds will play in Week 2: No. 7 Karolina Pliskova. The only previous champion left is Serena Williams. Only two other women among the final 16 even own a Grand Slam singles title: Angelique Kerber has two, Jelena Ostapenko one.
“I’m not surprised anymore,” said 2017 French Open champion Ostapenko, a 6-0, 6-4 winner over Vitalia Diatchenko. “Every day, something strange is happening in the draw.”
That’s far less true in the men’s bracket, although No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev lost 7-6 (2), 4-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-0 to Ernests Gulbis. Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin del Potro won.
Djokovic beat home favorite Kyle Edmund but had some tart comments for the partisan crowd after getting booed several times.
“There is a certain unwritten borderline where you feel that it’s a bit too much,” he said. “I didn’t deserve to be treated the way I was treated by certain individuals.”
Still, the three-time champion won 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 to reach the round of 16 for the 11th time.
Djokovic was also booed after a time violation in the third set. He responded by blowing kisses to the fans.
“I thought the crowd’s reaction ... was quite unnecessary,” he said.