Wednesday brought mixed fortunes for seeded players in the third quarter of the women's draw, as the highest seed in the section, No.4 Sofia Kenin, was stunned by compatriot Madison Brengle in well under an hour, while No.8 seed Karolina Pliskova eased past a possible tough test in Donna Vekic.
In just 45 minutes, Brengle scored her fourth career Top 10 victory over an erratic Kenin, who racked up a staggering 41 unforced errors in the 6-2, 6-4 defeat. Though she herself was broken three times, Brengle broke serve six times and won more than half of points played in Kenin's service games.
The highest-ranked American in singles, Kenin's stay at the All-England Club will nonetheless continue as she partners Belinda Bencic in doubles.
"I really did not feel my game. Of course, she played well. She's playing well, obviously. I just feel like leading up to Wimbledon I didn't have enough clearly preparation on the grass," Kenin said in defeat.
"I kind of had like a minor injury leading up to Wimbledon, which is why I had to pull out of Eastbourne. I didn't really have much time to prepare on grass, and it's unfortunate.
"I'm just going to get ready for doubles, and whenever everything is done, I will just take some time off and get ready for the hard court swing."
Brengle, 31, advances to the third round of a Grand Slam for the fifth time in her career and second at Wimbledon. The World No.82 will next face Switzerland's Viktorija Golubic, who rolled past another American in Danielle Collins, 6-2, 6-0.
There was no such trouble for former World No.1 Pliskova, however, as she defeated Vekic for the second consecutive Grand Slam, 6-2, 6-2.
After beating the Croatian in the first round of the French Open, Pliskova needed just 66 minutes to book a spot in the third round of Wimbledon for the third time in her career. The Czech put in a stunning performance on the stat sheet, hitting 22 winners to just seven unforced, and never faced a break point.
Twice beaten in the fourth round of Wimbledon for her deepest run at the event, Pliskova will next face compatriot Tereza Martincova for another spot in the round of 16.
The unseeded Czech saved four set points in the second set of her 6-3, 7-6(5) win over 2020 WTA Newcomer of the Year Nadia Podoroska to reach the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time.
Jabeur ends Venus' 23rd Wimbledon to reach first third round at SW19
In a highly-anticipated second round match, No.21 seed Ons Jabeur scored her seventh grass-court victory in her last eight matches with a 7-5, 6-0 defeat of five-time Wimbledon singles champion Venus Williams on No.1 Court.
"It's not easy to play someone like Venus, and it was quite an experience for me," Jabeur said. "I couldn't do my shots, which was a little bit complicated at the beginning, but then after, at the end, I tried to stay focused and just play my game. It was great at the end especially."
Facing Williams for the first time in her career, Jabeur won the last nine games of the match from 5-4 down in the opening set to set up a third-round match with another Grand Slam champion, No.11 seed Garbiñe Muguruza.
"I think she played well. [She] just played super good, so I can't take any credit away from her," Williams said after the match.
"It's incredible any time you get to play here. It just never gets old. Definitely not my best day. Maybe a few too many errors. But I think a lot of it was how she played. I think the courts really work for her. It was just great play on her behalf."
