LONDON: Australian Open champion Madison Keys joined the mass exodus of top seeds at Wimbledon on Friday while Taylor Fritz`s final-set fireworks propelled the American into the last 16 with a 6-4, 6-3, 6-7(5/7), 6-1 win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

Keys was defeated 6-3, 6-3 by Germany`s Laura Siegemund and joined Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, Jasmine Paolini and Zheng Qinwen who had already fallen by the wayside.

US sixth seed Keys had won 13 of her 14 Grand Slam matches this year, but made 31 unforced errors in a lacklustre display on the grass against 37-year-old Siegemund, ranked 104 in the world.

Siegemund, now the oldest player left in the women`s singles draw, jumped with glee upon sealing victory and will play her first ever Wimbledon fourth round against Argentine lucky loser Solana Sierra, who defeated Cristina Busca of Moldova 7-5, 1-6, 6-1.

`I only play for myself, I don`t feel like I need to prove anything anymore...

It`s important to remember the core of why you are doing this... I`m playing for me and I don`t feel pressure this way,` Siegemund said on court.

In the day`s later match,Fritz, who had been taken to five sets in his last two encounters, raced into a two-set lead against Davidovich Fokina on a sunny Centre Court.

He was a break up in the third and serving for the match when his normally reliable delivery spluttered as the 27th-ranked Spaniard finally converted a break point and then forced a tiebreak which he won in a tense tussle.

With his tail up, it felt like momentum had switched, but Fritz, whose languid manner never gives up a hint of frustration, swiftly rediscovered his form and turned the tide, breaking three times in the final set to wrap up victory.

Bidding to become the first American men`s Grand Slam winner since Andy Roddick in 2003, Fritz has shown that if stamina alone determined the Wimbledon champion, he would be hard to beat.

While there was almost certainly a part of him that was grateful for not being dragged the distance for a third match in a row, the 27-year-old American said he was feeling great ahead of a fourth-round meeting with Australia`s Jordan Thompson.

`This is going to sound crazy but my body is actually feeling better aftereach match,` he said. `I feel like somehow it felt the worst after my first round but now it`s getting better.

In early third-round action at the All England Club, Japan`s four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka lost 6-3, 4-6, 4-6 to Russia`s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, ranked 50th in the world.

Osaka has not reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam since she won the Australian Open in 2021 but is still hungry for success.

`I feel like while I still have the opportunity to try to do it, I want to, even though I get very upset when I lose, but I think that`s my competitive nature. That`s also the younger sister syndrome, she said.

Home hope Sonay Kartal surged into the fourth round for the first time with a remarkable turnaround performance against French qualifier Diane Parry as she won nine games in a row to come from 4-1 down to triumph 6-4, 6-2.Earlier, it took US men`s 10th seed Ben Shelton just 71 seconds to complete his second-round match, sealing a 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 win against Australia`s Rinky Hijikata after the match was halted on Thursday due to failing light.

On Thursday, world num-ber one Jannik Sinner eased into round three as his pursuit of a first Wimbledon title gathered pace, the Italian thrashing Australia`s Aleksandar Vukic 6-1, 6-1, 6-3.

But Britain`s big hope, fourth seed Jack Draper, ran in to an inspired Marin Cilic and joined the exodus of seeds from the men`s draw which now totals 18 in the opening two rounds.

Despite fervent home support on Court One Draper was out-gunned 6-4, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 by big-serving Croatian Cilic who produced the kind of tennis that took him to the 2017 final.

`It`s not the pressure, it`s not the whatever. I just didn`t play good enough today. I lost to a better player,` said Draper, who is regarded as Britain`s successor to two-time championAndyMurray. `Icame up short.

American 13th seed Tommy Paul needed treatment on a foot injury on his way to a 1-6, 7-5, 6-4, 7-5 defeat by Austria`s 165thranked Sebastian Ofner.

Meanwhile, former women`s champion Elena Rybakina reached the third round for the loss of a mere seven games, the lith seed destroying Greece`s Maria Sakkari 6-3, 6-1 in 62 minutes.-Agencies