The top two seeds Serena Williams and Li Na both lost in the third round of the 2014 Wimbledon Championships. Williams, the No. 1 seed, was defeated by France’s Alizé Cornet, while No. 2 seed Li Na lost to the Czech player Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová.
The result was one of the tournament’s biggest surprises. Williams was a five-time Wimbledon singles champion at the time and had won the title in 2012. Cornet recovered after losing the first set 6–1 to win 1–6, 6–3, 6–4, giving Williams her earliest Wimbledon exit since 2005.
Li Na’s defeat was also unexpected because she had won the 2014 Australian Open earlier that year. Záhlavová-Strýcová prevailed 6–1, 6–3. Petra Kvitová eventually won the women’s singles title, beating Eugenie Bouchard in the final. Wimbledon is the third Grand Slam tournament of the calendar year, played on grass at the All England Club in London.