The Top 3 players on the WTA rankings—Ashleigh Barty, Naomi Osaka, Aryna Sabalenka—were the Top 3 seeds in the women’s singles at the Olympics, and they’re all out. No. 2 Osaka was the last of the three to fall, losing to Marketa Vondrousova in the third round.
We’re now in uncharted terriroty: since tennis returned to the Olympics in 1988, this is the first time none of the Top 3 women’s seeds have reached the quarterfinals.
Before this year, there had been two occasions where only one of the Top 3 women’s seeds reached the quarterfinals: 2008, where No. 2 seed Jelena Jankovic lost in the quarterfinals; and 2016, where No. 2 seed Angelique Kerber reached the final.
Elina Svitolina is now the highest-seeded woman left in Tokyo—she’s ranked No. 6, and seeded No. 4. She’s one of only two Top 10 players through to the quarterfinals of the women’s draw, along with No. 9-ranked, No. 7-seeded Garbine Muguruza.
And speaking of Muguruza, she’s the only Grand Slam champion left in the women’s draw. This is only the second time in the Open Era that only one women’s Grand Slam champion is through to the quarterfinals of the Olympics—the first time was way back in 1988, when Steffi Graf was the only one left at this point, and she won the gold.