Portugal Colonial - Former finalist Paolini stunned as Wimbledon seeds continue to fall

Just 12 months after her run to the All England Club final, Paolini followed a host of highly-ranked seeds out of the grass-court Grand Slam.

The Italian fourth seed, beaten by Barbora Krejcikova in the 2024 Wimbledon title match, slumped to a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 loss in two hours and 18 minutes on Court Three.

After reaching the French Open and Wimbledon finals last year, Paolini has failed to make the quarter-finals in each of her last four Grand Slam appearances, although she won the Roland Garros doubles crown with partner Sara Errani in June.

The 29-year-old's defeat against Rakhimova means four of the top five seeds in the women's singles have been eliminated just three days into the event.

Second seed Coco Gauff, third seed Jessica Pegula and fifth seed Zheng Qinwen were beaten in the first round.

World number one Aryna Sabalenka is the last of the top five seeds remaining after her win against Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic in the second round on Wednesday.

M.Gameiro--PC