Australian Maya Joint has missed the chance of another Centre Court blockbuster after being knocked out of Wimbledon, but it may have been a kindness that she won't have to tackle in-form champion Iga Swiatek.
The Pole, who'd been in tears after her emotional and nervy opening-round win at the launch of her defence on Tuesday, looked the real deal again on Thursday, hammering 2021 runner-up Karolina Pliskova 6-1 6-3.
Australian Joint, who'd beaten Serena Williams on Centre in a match the world watched, would have been the champion's third-round opponent if she'd prevailed against Alex Eala.
Instead, it was the young Philippines star who prevailed 3-6 6-2 6-0, and next has the unenviable task of tackling a player who's beginning to resemble the rampant 2025 version of Swiatek at Wimbledon.
After her unconvincing three-set victory over Taylor Townsend, this was more like it from the six-time grand slam champ as Swiatek outplayed Pliskova, the Czech beaten by Ash Barty in the final five years ago who's now on the comeback trail after injuries that nearly finished her career.
The watching nine-time champ Martina Navratilova graded Swiatek's performance an A-plus, and the third seed appreciated the mark.
"When legends like that say nice things about you, it means a lot," said Swiatek.
"It is basically why you try to be the best tennis player possible, so that people appreciate it. I'm really happy that she is saying that.
"I don't know if it was an A-plus because at times it was a tricky game, especially with the wind ... maybe not A-plus, more like B I would say."
Amanda Anisimova, the American beaten 6-0 6-0 by Swiatek in last year's final, served three of her 20 aces in a deciding tiebreaker to hold off 2020 Australian Open champ Sofia Kenin 6-2 4-6 7-6 (7-3).
Anisimova was trailing 3-1 in the third set before rallying to prevail.
"Some moments were really awful. I'm just so happy to be through to the next round," beamed Anisimova, who'll next meet fellow American Madison Keys, last year's Australian Open champ, a 6-1 6-4 victor over British hope Katie Swan.
Elena Rybakina, the 2022 champion, defeated American Caty McNally 6-1 6-2 on Centre Court as she seeks to regain her crown and become the world No.1 for the first time, while 2024 runner-up Jasmine Paolini powered past Switzerland's Viktorija Golubic 7-6 (7-0) 6-4.
The biggest shock of the day in the women's draw was the exit of 15th seed Diana Shnaider, semi-finalist at the French Open, who was defeated 6-4 4-6 6-2 by fellow Russian Liudmila Samsonova.
