London: Top seed Angelique Kerber was knocked out of the last-16 at Wimbledon by Garbine Muguruza on Monday, ensuring she will lose her world number one ranking.
Runner-up in 2015 to Serena Williams, Muguruza rallied from a service break down in the deciding set to score a tenacious 4-6 6-4 6-4 win over the top-seeded German.
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The turning point in the two-hour, 20-minute thriller came when Muguruza survived an epic 12-minute seventh game of the third set before breaking Kerber and closing out the contest.
Romania's Simona Halep sent Victoria Azarenka packing 7-6(3) 6-2 as a litany of second-set errors put paid to the Belarussian's dreams of a fairytale Wimbledon comeback.
Azarenka, playing in her second tournament after the birth of her son Leo in December, out-hit and out-thought the second-seeded Halep for much of a pulsating first set, mixing deep groundstrokes with frequent dropshots and forays to the net.
But the two-time semi-finalist at the All England Club began to flag in the first-set tiebreak, losing it 7-3 before conceding the next five games.
A mini fightback pegged the second-set deficit back to 5-2 before another Azarenka backhand groundstroke error saw Halep home in just under 90 minutes, keeping alive the Romanian's hopes of a maiden grand slam victory and an ascent to the world number one ranking.
She will be joined in the last eight by five-time champion Venus Williams, who swept past Croatian teenager Ana Konjuh 6-3 6-2 in just 64 minutes.
![World no.1 Angelique Kerber was knocked out of Wimbledon by Garbine Muguruza.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170713055355im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/8/j/x/f/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gx8ju5.png/1499716578220.jpg)
At 37, Williams is now three wins away from becoming the oldest women's champion in open-era history and claiming a sixth crown nine years after landing her fifth.
The American will face French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in Tuesday's quarter-finals after the Latvian posted a pulsating fourth-round win over fourth seed Elena Svitolina.
![Spain's Garbine Muguruza celebrates after beating Angelique Kerber.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170713055355im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/8/j/x/k/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gx8ju5.png/1499716578220.jpg)
Svitolina saved seven match points before finally succumbing 6-3 7-6 (8-6) on so-called "Manic Monday" at SW19.
Ostapenko is the first first-time major champion to progress to the last eight at the ensuing grand slam since Kim Clijsters made the 2006 Australian Open semi-finals after winning the 2005 US Open.
![Venus Williams eased through in 64 minutes.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170713055355im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/8/j/x/o/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gx8ju5.png/1499716578220.jpg)
Muguruza will play dual grand slam champion Kuznetsova after the Russian seventh seed earlier outclassed 2012 finalist Agnieszka Radwanska in straight sets to be the first woman through to the last eight.
A dual grand slam winner, Kuznetsova won 6-2 6-4 in one hour and 31 minutes to qualify for her fourth quarter-final at the All England Club – but her first in a decade.
![Romania's Simona Halep outclassed Victoria Azarenka.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170713055355im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/8/j/y/5/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gx8ju5.png/1499716578220.jpg)
Unseeded Slovak Magdalena Rybarikova is also through after ending the run of Croatian qualifier Petra Martic with a 6-4 2-6 6-3 victory.
Rybarikova will square off with Coco Vandeweghe for an unlikely place in the semi-finals after the Pat Cash-coached American took out Danish fifth seed Caroline Wozniacki 7-6 (7-4) 6-4.
Britain's hopes of a first win since 1978 remain alive after Sydney-born seventh seed Johanna Konta survived a 7-6 (7-3) 4-6 6-4 work-out from Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia.
AAP, Reuters