Defending champion Naomi Osaka was knocked out of the Australian Open, falling 6-3 6-4 in a stunning upset by American teenage sensation Coco Gauff in the third round.
Osaka was the third former Open winner to bow out of the draw after Serena Williams and Caroline Wozniacki, who won the title in 2017 and 2018, lost their respective matches at Melbourne Park earlier in the day.
Gauff, who lost to Osaka easily 6-3 6-0 at the U.S. Open last year, avoided a repeat defeat as a string of backhand errors off the Japanese player's racquet gave the 15-year-old the break midway through the opening set.
The pattern repeated itself in the second set, as Osaka continued to misfire and Gauff served out the victory after just 67 minutes on court.
The teenager was stunned by her achievement, saying: "Two years ago I lost first round in juniors, and now I'm here. This is crazy.
"I was just telling myself one point at a time and keep fighting because you never know what happens on this court.
"I'm on Rod Laver Arena, I can't believe this."
Serena Williams's bid for a record-equalling 24th grand slam singles title ended with a shock third-round loss to China's Wang Qiang.
When they met at the US Open last summer, Wang won just one game and 15 points, but it was a completely different story this time as the 27th seed claimed a 6-4 6-7 (2) 7-5 victory.
Williams' formidable serve sprung her from peril four times in the deciding set but the bullet-proof confidence which has defined her career was gradually chipped away as Wang defiantly dragged her into a tense dogfight.
Wang reprieved Williams twice on match point but the American could not make her pay and bowed out somewhat meekly with a backhand fired into the net.
It would have been fitting, meanwhile, had the 38-year-old finally moved level with Margaret Court in Melbourne as the tournament marks the 50th anniversary of her calendar Grand Slam.
Caroline Wozniacki's career came to an end with a third-round loss to Ons Jabeur.
The Dane announced last month that the scene of her greatest triumph, when she broke her grand slam duck in 2018, would also be the stage for her professional farewell at the age of 29.
Wozniacki battled to an excellent win over fast-rising teenager Dayana Yastremska in the second round and surely had her sights set on a fourth-round clash with great friend Serena Williams.
But Tunisia's Jabeur had other ideas and her 7-5 3-6 7-5 victory made her the first Arab woman to reach the fourth round at a grand slam.
Wozniacki looked like she had turned things around when she won the second set and then recovered from 0-3 in the third but Jabeur had not read the script.
Wozniacki held serve once to stay in the match but on the second occasion she went behind and an ill-judged HawkEye challenge set up a match point.
A forehand over the baseline was the final act, and Wozniacki managed a joke through tears as she stepped up for a farewell interview.
"I think it was only fitting that my last match would be a three-setter, a grinder, and that I would finish my career with a forehand error," she said of the stroke that has probably stopped her winning more major titles.
World number one Ash Barty's expectations have not risen too high after she advanced to the second week of the Australian Open following a 6-3 6-2 third round victory over Elena Rybakina.
Barty is arguably the best chance of ending Australia's long wait for a home-grown champion at the year's first grand slam, having held the world's top ranking since last September and with the Adelaide International title under her belt.
The 23-year-old made a stuttering start to the tournament on Monday but was imperious against the highly rated Rybakina, whose power hitting and big serve led to her first WTA title and propelled her into the top-40 last year.
"I think today was probably my sharpest match that I played," Barty told reporters after the one hour, 18 minute match on Rod Laver Arena.
