Seeds keep tumbling at Wimbledon as No. 4 Paolini loses to Rakhimova in second round

LONDON (AP) — Last year’s runner-up Jasmine Paolini became the fourth top-five seed to exit the women’s bracket at Wimbledon, losing 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 on Wednesday to unseeded Kamilla Rakhimova in the second round.

The fourth-seeded Paolini joins No. 2 Coco Gauff, No. 3 Jessica Pegula and No. 5 Zheng Qinwen in making a quick departure from the All England Club, with the other three having all lost in the first round.

A total of 23 seeds — 13 men, 10 women — failed to get to the second round, equaling the highest total at any Grand Slam tournament since they began assigning 32 seeds in each singles bracket in 2001.

The upsets kept coming in the women’s bracket Wednesday, with No. 12-seeded Diana Shnaider losing 6-4, 6-1 to Diane Parry and No. 22 Donna Vekic, who lost to Paolini in the semifinals last year, going out 6-1, 6-3 to Cristina Busca.

Paolini lost in the final of both the French Open and Wimbledon last year but has not been past the fourth round in the four majors since.

Russia’s Kamilla Rakhimova reacts after beating Jasmine Paolini of Italy in a second round women’s singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Wednesday, July 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Joanna Chan)

Rakhimova is making her second Wimbledon appearance, having lost in the first round in 2023. In all, the 23-year-old Russian has only made the third round twice in 13 previous majors.

This was her first win against a top-10 ranked player.

“I try not to think about the opponent and try to focus on my game. It worked for me,” Rakhimova said. “I just pretend like I’m playing a normal girl, not the No. 4 in the world.”