Defending Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek and recent French Open winner Mirra Andreeva were both eliminated from the grass-court tournament in Bad Homburg, Germany, on Sunday, suffering upset losses in the lead-up to Wimbledon.

Swiatek, ranked world number three, was defeated by American Emma Navarro in three sets, 7-5, 2-6, 6-3, in a match lasting two hours and five minutes. Navarro took an early lead, winning the first three games, capitalizing on Swiatek’s double faults, including one on the set’s final point. Swiatek rebounded strongly in the second set, dropping only two games. However, Navarro regained momentum in the decider, breaking Swiatek’s serve to secure the victory. Speaking after the match, Navarro attributed the outcome to serving under challenging conditions. “It was hot out there and I didn’t have a ton of rhythm… It came down to a lot of serving,” Navarro said. She will meet Romania’s Elena-Gabriela Ruse in the quarter-finals, following Ruse’s 7-5, 6-2 win over Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya.

Earlier in the day, French Open champion Mirra Andreeva, ranked world number five, was ousted in straight sets by Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova, 6-3, 6-4, in what was Andreeva’s first grass-court match of the season. Andreeva had withdrawn from last week’s Berlin Open to recover and prepare for Wimbledon. The 19-year-old initially competed evenly but struggled in the hot conditions, losing seven consecutive games in the first set. Although she briefly rebounded after falling behind 4-0 and 40-15 in the second set, Alexandrova, ranked 19th, closed out the match in one hour and 28 minutes. Alexandrova will face former Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka from Japan in the quarter-finals.

Other quarter-finalists emerging from Sunday's matches include fourth seed Karolina Muchova, who cruised past Irina-Camelia Begu 6-1, 6-1, and Dane Clara Tauson, who overcame China’s Zheng Qinwen 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian player Elina Svitolina, ranked eighth in the world, withdrew from the tournament citing the physical toll of her previous round victory over Liudmila Samsonova. Svitolina stated that the match took “a little bit more than expected” out of her body.

The Bad Homburg tournament continues to serve as a critical preparation event for players targeting success at Wimbledon, which is set to begin in the coming days.