Tennis carnage as stars crumble ahead of Wimbledon: 'What's going on'
The WTA draw collapsed at Eastbourne after a series of stunning defeats to top seeds resulted in a horror warm-up for the favourites ahead of Wimbledon.
In the biggest upset of the day, World No.4 Paula Badosa lost to British World No.169 Jodie Burrage 6-4, 6-3 to hand the 23-year-old the biggest win of her career.
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Badosa was clearly upset after her loss and offered Burrage a frosty handshake.
Burrage won't mind though, as she moves into the World Top 150 after the huge upset victory.
And another British favourite followed in Burrage's footsteps.
Katie Boulter upset World No.7 Karolina Pliskova 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 to cap off a remarkable day for the British.
It marked Boulter's first win against a Top 10 opponent in her career.
A number of other top seeds also exited the draw.
Barbora Krejcikova lost to Ukraine star Marta Kostyuk, Anhelina Kalinina shocked World No.5 Maria Sakkari and No.9 seed Elena Rybakina fell to Lesia Tsurenko.
The carnage in the WTA draw at Eastbourne drew plenty of reaction from the tennis world.
This WTA draw in Eastbourne completely collapsed. 😨
Badosa, Sakkari, Krejcikova, Pliskova Rybakina all lost today. Jabeur withdrew, Teichmann losing.
Great chances for Muguruza and Kvitova, for example— José Morgado (@josemorgado) June 21, 2022
Really good win today in Eastbourne for Katie Boulter, beating last year's #Wimbledon runner-up Pliskova in three.
I was so impressed by Boulter in her great match against Sabalenka last year at Wimbledon...glad she's finding form again ahead of her home slam.— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) June 21, 2022
Boulter d. Ka. Pliskova, 16 64 64 in Eastbourne.
So many results today initially feel like big surprises, and then on second thought I decide they’re really not all that surprising after all.— Ed Salmon (@fogmount) June 21, 2022
By far the biggest win of Katie Boulter's career, as she defeats World No 7 and Wimbledon finalist Karolina Pliskova at Eastbourne
Her first top 10 win, and just sixth top 50 win after beating Alison Riske (35) last week #EastbourneInternational— Lewis Steele (@LewisSteele_) June 21, 2022
What a win for WR 169 Jodie Burrage over world number 3 Paula Badosa at Eastbourne 6-4 6-3. Remarkable day for the Brits.
— Mike Dickson (@Mike_Dickson_DM) June 21, 2022
10 British players in ATP/WTA main draws this week are collectively 9-2 so far 😳😻
— andy adorer 😻😻 (@wonkyforehand) June 21, 2022
Spanish star Garbine Muguruza remains the highest seed left in the draw at No.5.
The women's draw also saw Ons Jabeur withdraw from singles to compete with returning tennis icon Serena Williams in doubles.
Serena Williams returns to tennis with a win
After 12 months on the sidelines, the 23-time grand slam champion made her long-awaited return on Tuesday at Eastbourne in the lead-up to Wimbledon.
Williams teamed up with Jabeur to produce a 2-6, 6-3, 13-11 win over Sara Sorribes Tormo and Marie Bouzkova in the first round clash.
Williams made a slow start but soon got into the groove and hit an array of winners sprinkled with a handful of aces.
She produced a brilliant cross-court winner to secure the second set and send the match to a deciding tiebreak.
"It was so fun to play with Ons," Williams said on-court. "It was great. We had a lot of fun and our opponents played amazing. We were happy to stay in there.
"I called Ons, she has been playing so well and I knew I needed to play some matches and she has always been so nice to me on tour.
"Yeah, I caught some fire behind me, it was good."
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