A determined Iga Swiatek reached the fourth round of Wimbledon for just the third time with a thumping victory over Danielle Collins.
The Pole's less-than-stellar record on grass and a disappointing year thus far meant she arrived at the All England Club as something of an also ran.
But being under the radar is suiting the former world number one, who is seeded down in eighth here, just fine, and she progressed to the last 16 with a 6-2 6-3 victory against American Collins.
Swiatek, who reached her first final since last year's French Open on grass in Bad Homburg last weekend, is happy to have found her feet, saying: "I was just in the zone. I knew how I wanted to play and I knew I needed to be brave.
"You can't let Danielle play her winners. I'm really happy with the performance, it was a good match. It's much more fun this year. I had some practices where the ball was listening to me, which was pretty new on grass."
That it was Collins she brushed aside so easily will no doubt also give Swiatek, whose best run at Wimbledon was a quarter-final appearance in 2023, satisfaction.
The feisty American, who reversed a decision to retire at the end of last season and start a family because of fertility issues, criticised Swiatek for "fakeness" in her reaction after Collins pulled out injured during their clash at the Olympics last summer.
Swiatek's difficult season on her favoured clay, meanwhile, included just a second defeat in nine previous matches against Collins in Rome.
Collins is renowned for her fiery attitude on court and earned headlines around the world at the Australian Open in January when, after beating home hope Destanee Aiava in a hostile atmosphere, she blew kisses to the crowd and slapped her bottom.
"Every person that's bought a ticket to come out here and heckle me or do what they do, it's all going towards the Danielle Collins Fund," she said. "Me and my group of girlfriends love a five-star vacation."
A mid-afternoon Centre Court crowd in SW19 is about as big a contrast as it is possible to get, and Collins simply did not play well enough to apply any psychological pressure to Swiatek.
The Pole, who revealed she is being fuelled by eating pasta and strawberries, was all business, dictating with her first serve and moving into a 4-1 lead.
She was not distracted when Collins erroneously thought Swiatek had served a double fault at 15-30 and moved across to the other side of the court only to look up and realise her mistake, jogging back with an apologetic wave to laughter from the crowd.
Swiatek faced just three break points in the match, saving all of them, and played a high-class second set to wrap up victory in only 75 minutes.
Former champion Elena Rybakina was unable to weather the storm as she slipped out following a rain-delayed defeat to 22-year-old Dane Clara Tauson.
The world number 11 was bidding to emulate her achievements of 2022 when she overcame Ons Jabeur in the final.
But, in a third-round contest featuring two suspensions due to wet weather, she lost 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 in two hours and 16 minutes on Court Two.
Kazakh player Rybakina – the 11th seed – made 31 unenforced errors during the match, including sending a straightforward forehand long on match point.
Tauson's reward for one of the biggest wins of her career is a last-16 meeting with either five-time grand slam champion Iga Swiatek or American Danielle Collins.
"It was amazing to play here today, even though it was a little rainy," the world number 22 said in her on-court interview.
"I don’t know what to say. I think I played a really great match. Before this grass season, I had never won a match on grass, so I’m super happy with how I played today.
"Elena plays so hard, but I was there fighting for every single point so I think that was the key today.
"My coach, who is also my boyfriend (Kasper Elsvad), we’ve worked so hard the whole year and the end of last year. I’ve worked so hard towards this."
Earlier, teenage seventh seed Mirra Andreeva rushed into round four with a straight-sets win over American world number 55 Hailey Baptiste.
With inclement conditions temporarily halting play on the outer courts, the 18-year-old Russian cruised to a 6-1 6-3 victory under the Court One roof.
Aside from world number one Aryna Sabalenka, who overcame Britain’s Emma Raducanu on Friday evening, Andreeva is the highest seeded player remaining in the women’s draw following a series of upsets across week one of the tournament.
She will face either reigning champion Barbora Krejcikova or 10th seed Emma Navarro in the last eight.
Baptiste, who has Frances Tiafoe’s twin brother Franklin in her coaching team, failed to hold serve in game one en route to dropping the opening set in just 31 minutes.
The 23-year-old Wimbledon debutant offered more resistance in the second but, despite breaking back in game five and forcing five break points in game seven, Andreeva marched on.
Liudmila Samsonova joins compatriot Andreeva in the second week after hitting a monster serve of 128mph in her 6-2 6-3 victory over Daria Kasatkina.
Samsonova’s effort was just short of the Wimbledon women’s record of 129mph – set by Venus Williams in 2008.
Kasatkina, who switched allegiance from Russia to Australia earlier this year after publicly criticising her country’s LGBTQ+ laws and the war in Ukraine, trailed 6-2 2-0 when play was temporarily halted by rain and could not mount a comeback.
Spaniard Jessica Bouzas Maneiro beat Ukraine's Dayana Yastremska 6-1 2-6 6-3 to set up a clash with Samsonova.
Belinda Bencic came from a break down in the third set against Elisabetta Cocciaretto to win the second-longest women’s match of this year’s Wimbledon.
The 28-year-old Swiss player, who missed last year’s tournament due to the birth of her daughter, progressed 6-4 3-6 7-6 (10-7) in two hours and 58 minutes following multiple rain delays, including a lengthy off-court spell after the first set.
Former Olympic champion Bencic will face Russian 18th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova – a 6-3 7-6 (7-1) victor against Zeynep Sonmez – in round four.
