Dominika Cibulkova became the latest top seed to crash out of the Australian Open Saturday when she was upset by Russian dark horse Ekaterina Makarova in a marathon third-round match. The Slovak sixth seed and WTA Finals champion joins third seed Agnieszka Radwanska and fourth-seeded Simona Halep as first-week casualties, blowing the draw wide open.
Makarova, 28, was never going to be a pushover.
Melbourne Park has been her most successful Grand Slam and her 6-2, 6-7 (3/7), 6-3 win in nearly three hours put her in the fourth round for a seventh consecutive time.
In 2015 she made a memorable run to the semi-finals, losing to Maria Sharapova, who is serving a drugs ban.
"It was an amazing match, an amazing fight," Makarova said. "This is my favourite Grand Slam and I really want to stay here.
"I want to enjoy this win today because it is my first against Dominika and she is a great player." Seeded 30, her reward is a last-16 showdown with either British ninth seed Johanna Konta or Danish former world number one Caroline Wozniacki, who are both in good form.