Wimbledon 2018: 3 reasons why so many of the top women's seeds have fallen early this year

#3 Unranked players gaining confidence from the falling top seeds

Sasnovich saluting the crowd after her win against Kvitova

Aliaksandra Sansovich headed into her first-round match as a talented but unheralded Belarussian talent. However, no one could have expected the 24-year-old to start the way she did, as she took the first set 6-2. Although Kvitova snatched the second, the Belarussian remained undeterred and put her Czech opponent under pressure with her variety of shots.

She was also willing to come to the net to finish points; an increasingly rare feature of the women’s game. Her interview afterwards oozed confidence and bravery, where she said that she could play even better and talked about her intention to go all the way.

Last year, Magdalena Rybarikova made a run to the semi-finals and lost to the eventual champion Garbine Muguruza. In March of last year, her ranking had dropped to 453, due to wrist and knee injuries, which left her out of action for half of 2016. During her run to the last-four, she beat Coco Vandeweghe and Karolina Pliskova, who were both ranked far higher than Rybarikova, but the Belarussian’s variety and tenacity brought her success.

Garbine Muguruza’s opponent Van Uytvanck could have easily become dispirited after her first set loss. However, she stayed aggressive and found vulnerabilities in the Muguruza game. For many of the top players on the WTA, their game is based on pure power -- a risky play-style which can often reduce consistency and increase unforced errors. This was the case for both Muguruza and Kvitova, as they were exposed by their lower-ranked opponents.