Top-ranked Serena Williams has been ousted by 25th-ranked Sabine Lisicki, 6-2, 1-6, 6-4, snapping the five-time champion's career-high 34-match winning streak.
Williams early departure from the All English Club is the latest exit of a top-ranked player in this year's tournament - with Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Maria Sharapova, and Victoria Azarenka all knocked out in the first three days of the tournament.
Williams failed to close out the third set, dropping the last four games against her German opponent, with Lisicki keeping her off-balance throughout most of the match - either forcing Williams to rush the net or to stick to the baseline. Williams managed to convert only 5-of-16 break points compared to 5-of-8 for Lisicki.
"I'm still shaking," Lisicki said in her post-match interview as she wiped tears of joy. "I'm just so happy."
Despite her poor play, Williams noted to reporters that Lisicki had made the Wimbledon's quarterfinals or better in four out of five appearances, including a 2011 semifinals when the young German was ranked 62.
"I don't think it's a huge shock," Williams said. "She is a great player. Her ranking has no effect on what she should be. She should be ranked higher. She just has a super, super game to play well on grass."
Lisicki has now eliminated the reigning French Open champion the last four times she has played Wimbledon, including defeating Sharapova in the fourth round last year.
"I feel like of all the Round of 16s, I probably had the toughest one," said Williams. "I mean, I've said this, I don't know if you've heard, but she's a great grass-court player. Come on, guys, let's get with it. She's excellent. She's not a pushover. She's a great player. To play this match in any Wimbledon on the fourth round, it's not an easy draw."
Lisicki will play unseeded Kaia Kanepi of Estonia in the quarterfinals, who defeated British Laura Robson 7-6 (5), 7-5. Kanepi dashed Robson's hopes of becoming the first British woman in the quarterfinals of any Grand Slam since 1984.
Former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova also reached the quarterfinals beating Carla Suarez-Navarro of Spain 7-6 (5), 6-3. Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium also reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinals beating Flavia Pennetta of Italy 7-6 (2), 6-3. Former French Open champion Li Na also advanced dispatching Roberta Vinci of Italy 6-2, 6-0. Sloane Stephens became the lone American woman standing in the tournament beating Puerto Rico's Monica Puig 4-6, 7-5, 6-1. Fourth-ranked Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland beat Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
On the men's side, top men's seed, Novak Djokovic, breezed into the Wimbledon quarterfinals with a straight-set 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) victory over Tommy Haas Monday.
"I had a bad record against him on grass," Djokovic said after the match. "It was a tough challenge for me and I played a really, really good match."
Andy Murray reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the sixth consecutive year, beating 20th-seeded Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-1. Murray, ranked number two, is trying to become the first British man since Fred Perry in 1936 to win the title at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament. Murray lost to Federer in last year's Wimbledon final but later defeated Federer a month later to win a London Olympics gold medal at the All England Club.
Juan Martin del Potro, who played with a heavily taped up left knee after twisting his ankle and hyperextending his knee, defeated Andreas Seppi 6-4, 7-6 (2), 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals. Del Potro will face fourth-ranked David Ferrer of Spain, who had early struggles despite beating Ivan Dodig 6-7 (3), 7-6 (6), 6-1, 6-1. Poland Jerzy Janowicz, a 24th-seed, defeated Jurgen Melzer 3-6, 7-6 (1), 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 and will play fellow countryman 130th-ranked Lukasz Kubot who defeated Adrian Mannarino 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
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