Ukraine's Elina Svitolina admitted she was struggling mentally with the demands of trying to win her first Grand Slam title as she joined the exodus of top seeds at Wimbledon on Friday (NZ time).
The world No. 5, seeded three, was beaten 6-3 6-4 in the second round by Poland's Magda Linette, meaning that six of the top 10 seeds have already departed in the women's draw.
Sofia Kenin (4) and Bianca Andreescu (5) were knocked out on Thursday, while sixth seed Serena Williams, a seven-time Wimbledon champion, had to retire from her first round match, after slipping and injuring her leg.
Ninth seed Belinda Bencic and 10th seed Petra Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon champion, lost in round one.
Svitolina is regularly amongst the top seeds at Slams but the Ukrainian has yet to make the breakthrough many predicted.
In 34 Grand Slam appearances, the 26-year-old has managed to reach two semi-finals, at Wimbledon in 2019 and the U.S. Open a few weeks later, but has only reached one quarter-final in her last five attempts.
Against Linette, who had never beaten a top-10 player before and had lost in the first round at Wimbledon four times, Svitolina lacked inspiration and admitted she was struggling mentally and that her game was not in the best shape.
"Today I was not really in a good place," Svitolina said. "I need some time to analyse, but I think mentally it was not very good for me today.
"When you play a Grand Slam it's a different kind of pressure. It's tough to handle, but is part of the job.
"Today probably I was not fresh mentally to do that. I have been on the Tour for years now and there have been different kinds of situations. But right now I wouldn't say it's a very smooth time in my career."
There were no such issues for world No. 1 Ash Barty, who moved into the third round after overcoming spirited Russian Anna Blinkova and her own inconsistency in a 6-4 6-3 win.
The top seed never looked in danger against the 89th-ranked Blinkova, but it was still not plain sailing for the Australian scrapper.
Her serve, so often a dependable weapon, was at times wayward, as she hit nine double faults and was broken three times, while her 33 unforced errors suggest she has some way to go to get fully sharp on the grass.
Barty, whose sole Grand Slam title came at the 2019 French Open, has never gone beyond the last 16 at Wimbledon.
She ultimately had too much firepower for Blinkova, however, and wrapped up victory after an hour and 30 minutes when her opponent swiped a forehand long.
"A few things didn't feel quite right today," Barty said. "That's half the battle in sport, being able to find a way when it's not feeling all that great.
"I felt like when my back was against the wall today I was able to bring the good stuff. It just wasn't quite there all the time."
Next up for Barty will be an encounter with 64th-ranked Czech Katerina Siniakova, who booked her spot in the third round with a 4-6 6-2 6-2 win over CoCo Vandeweghe.
Reuters.
