Iga Swiatek's lengthy unbeaten run on clay was brought to a surprise end by Caroline Garcia at the Poland Open on Friday. 

The world number one succumbed to a 6-1 1-6 6-4 defeat to the fifth seed, who ended the French Open champion's 18-match winning streak on the dirt. 

It was Garcia's first win over a top-ranked player and sent her into a semi-final against Jasmine Paolini after the Italian came from behind to beat Viktorija Golubic 1-6 6-2 6-2. 

Swiatek said: "Maybe I wasn't as disciplined as in previous tournaments, but I'm happy. I felt like my brain didn't intuitively predict where the ball would go, but I'm still learning, right? 

"The first two sets depended on her – whether or not she would be in control. At the end of the second she lost control and took advantage. 

"In the third set, she got back to her game. But if I had a better first serve percentage, maybe it would have been different. 

"I don't know what decision I will make next year. Maybe longer preparation [on clay] will be necessarily, or maybe I'll give up this tournament. We'll see." 

Kateryna Baindl became the first lucky loser to reach a WTA Tour semi-final this year by overcoming Petra Martic 1-6 6-3 6-4. Next up for Baindl is Ana Bogdan, who beat Laura Pigossi 6-1 6-1.  

World number two Anett Kontaveit was also on the receiving end of an upset, going down 6-1 6-1 to Anastasia Potapova in 49 minutes at the Prague Open. 

Potapova will take on qualifier Wang Qiang for a place in the final, with Czech pair Marie Bouzkova and Linda Noskova – only the second female player born after 2004 to reach the last four of a WTA Tour tournament – in action on the other side of the draw. 

Reigning US Open champion Emma Raducanu believes she needs to cut herself some slack as she aims to improve her consistency on the court.

Having made her breakthrough at last year's Wimbledon championships, Raducanu went on to claim a stunning success at the US Open.

The Briton defeated fellow teenager Leylah Fernandez in straight sets, becoming the first singles qualifier in the Open Era to win a grand slam title.

Yet with the North American swing fast approaching, Raducanu has not yet come close to replicating that form in 2022.

Indeed, since winning the US Open, she has reached just two WTA Tour-level quarter-finals, while she has failed to progress past the second round in any of the three majors.

While acknowledging she needs to add more consistency to her game, the 19-year-old remains relaxed, insisting she is learning to take a step back and enjoy her situation.

"My goal would be towards consistency," she told the Evening Standard. "But equally, I'm going to try and cut myself some slack.

"I'm young and I have achieved something great. I think I should step back and enjoy it.

"I'd say I am too much of a perfectionist. That drives me crazy sometimes. I obviously think it's a great trait, because I don't think I would have had the results I did without that drive and that wanting to be better.

"But it can be really self-destructive at the same time, because you're never happy and you'll always complain or find something wrong."

The Canadian-born star cites her upbringing, and the high standards set by her parents, as crucial to her success.

She added: "They've always had high standards, and told me when things weren't very good, whereas other people might have wanted to encourage me. My parents always told me how it is, and I always had this sense of wanting to prove them wrong.

"Even in primary school, we had a sprint race on sports day and for seven years straight, I won it. I'm undefeated! I really like to win. I love the fight.

"When things get tough, keep getting yourself back up. Keep persevering. Each time you do, it teaches you a lesson and you accumulate experience. Then you can grow a big bank of knowledge that you can tap into."

Raducanu is ranked 10th in the world by the WTA, and this week joined up with Dmitry Tursunov, who will coach her on a trial basis for next week's Citi Open. She split with former mentor Torben Beltz in April.

The top seeds were all victorious in Thursday's action at the Atlanta Open, with John Isner prevailing 7-6 (10-8) 4-6 7-6 (7-3) in an all-American showdown against Ben Shelton to close the day's play.

Isner, 37, relied as he usually does on his trusty serve to get the job done in tiebreakers, winning the match despite not breaking Shelton's serve a single time.

The second seed won 85 per cent (60-of-71) of his successful first serves, while Shelton was similarly stout, converting 83 per cent (50-of-60).

Isner will meet fellow American Jenson Brooksby in the quarter-finals after he came back from an early break to defeat Mackenzie McDonald 6-3 6-4.

The biggest differentiating factor between the two players was Brooksby's effectiveness off his second serve, winning 61 per cent (14-of-23) of those opportunities compared to just 22 per cent (four-of-18) from McDonald.

Fourth seed Alex de Minaur defeated fellow Australian James Duckworth 6-4 6-4 in a competitive match, but De Minaur simply created more chances for himself, with five break point opportunities while Duckworth had two.

De Minaur will play France's Adrian Mannarino after he defeated American Andres Martin 7-5 6-3.

Mannarino's main advantage was with his return game, securing four breaks of serve while dropping his own serve only once.

Carlos Alcaraz got his Croatia Open title defence off to a strong start with a straight-sets victory over Norbert Gombos on Thursday.

The Spaniard, who this week became the second-youngest player to break into the top five of the ATP rankings this century, behind only compatriot Rafael Nadal, saw off Gombos 6-2 6-3 in Umag.

Alcaraz, handed a first-round bye, will now face Facundo Bagnis in the last eight after the Argentinian beat Corentin Moutet 6-3 6-1.

Despite the straightforward nature of his victory over Gombos, the top seed was regularly tested on his own serve.

"It was a really tough match," said Alcaraz, whose triumph in Umag last year marked his first ATP Tour-level title.

"It wasn't as easy as the result seems. Norbert played a really good game and the first round of every tournament is never easy. 

"I had to get used to the conditions. It was tough for me, but at the end I found a way to play better and get the win."

Franco Agamenone also advanced to his first ATP Tour quarter-final with a 3-6 6-1 7-5 comeback over Sebastian Baez, while Marco Cecchinato upset Lorenzo Musetti 6-4 6-3.

At the Austrian Open, Dominic Thiem was eliminated in the quarter-finals of his home tournament by Yannick Hanfmann, the former world number three going down 6-4 3-6 6-4 in a rain-affected contest.

Roberto Bautista Agut prevailed 4-6 7-5 7-5 against Jiri Lehecka in a match lasting nearly three hours. A meeting with fellow Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas, who defeated Pedro Martinez 6-4 6-2, is his reward.

In the midst of a brilliant season, world number one Iga Swiatek had another milestone to celebrate on Thursday when she beat Gabriela Lee at the Poland Open.

Swiatek's 6-3 6-2 win against her Romanian opponent was her 48th of the season, already equalling the best tally reached by a female player in the entirety of 2021.

The top seed will have a chance to go one better than Anett Kontaveit and Ons Jabeur from last season when she faces Caroline Garcia in the quarter-finals of her home tournament.

Garcia beat Elisabetta Cocciaretto 6-3 7-5, while Jasmine Paolini dug deep to see off Clara Burel 6-1 6-7 (1-7) 6-0.

There was a big upset at the Prague Open, as defending champion Barbora Krejcikova was eliminated in a 3-6 7-5 (7-5) 6-3 defeat at the hands of Nao Hibino.

Fellow Czech Lucie Havlickova was dispatched in straight sets by top seed Kontaveit, but Linda Noskova will keep the home flag flying after beating Alize Cornet.

Noskova's first career tour-level quarter-final will come against Krejcikova's conqueror Hibino.

It was smooth sailing for the seeded competitors in action on Wednesday at the Atlanta Open, with Tommy Paul, Frances Tiafoe and Brandon Nakashima all advancing in straight sets.

Fifth seed Paul started the day off with a straightforward 6-3 6-3 win against South Korea's Kwon Soon-woo thanks to a clear advantage with his serving. He won 73 per cent (36-of-49) of his points on serve, while Kwon could only muster 53 per cent (34-of-64).

Paul will meet Belarus' Ilya Ivashka in the quarter-finals after he successfully navigated the challenge of America's Steve Johnson 4-6 6-2 6-4 after Johnson was a late injury replacement for top overall seed Reilly Opelka.

Ivashka is now 6-3 in his nine matches since the French Open, with his only losses against top-five talents Stefano Tsitsipas and twice against Daniil Medvedev.

Fourth seed Tiafoe was impressive against Japan's Taro Daniel, creating eight total break point opportunities, and capitalising on three. 

Tiafoe will play Nakashima in the quarter-finals, with the American surviving a tough first set tiebreaker to eventually defeat Australia's John Millman 7-6 (10-8) 6-4.

In a closely contested match, Nakashima avoided getting into many sticky situations, saving the only break point he faced.

Dominic Thiem battled his way into the quarter-finals of the Austrian Open at the expense of compatriot Sebastian Ofner on Wednesday.

Thiem reached his first semi-final since May 2021 at the Swiss Open last week and is looking to make further strides on home soil this week, having endured an injury nightmare.

The 2020 US Open champion made it through to the last eight in Kitzbuhel but had to dig deep for a 6-2 3-6 6-3 victory over qualifier Ofner.

Thiem only lost one point in the opening two games and wrapped up the first set in commanding fashion, but Ofner claimed the only break of the second set to force a decider.

The former world number three twice came from a break down in the final set to ensure he will face Yannick Hanfmann for a place in the semi-finals.

Seeds Aslan Karatsev and Joao Sousa bowed out, losing to Dusan Lajovic and Jiri Lehecka respectively.

Spanish trio Roberto Bautista Agut, Albert Ramos-Vinolas and Pedro Martinez advanced in straight sets.

Two of the top five seeds were knocked out of the Croatia Open, with Holger Rune and Alex Molcan falling in the round of 16.

Bernabe Zapata Miralles got the better of third seed Rune 3-6 6-3 6-2, while Roberto Carballes Baena ousted Molcan 3-6 6-2 6-3. Jannik Sinner and Giulio Zeppieri secured their quarter-final spots in Umag.

Jonny Bairstow blasted his highest T20 International score and Moeen Ali struck a record-breaking half-century as England beat South Africa by 41 runs in the first match of the series.

Bairstow is in the form of his life and bludgeoned 90 off only 53 balls on Wednesday, while Moeen made the fastest T20I half-century by an England batter from just 16 deliveries.

The exploits of Bairstow and Moeen (50) enabled England to rack up 234-6 at the County Ground in Bristol, their second-highest total in the shortest format and the biggest they have posted at home.

Tristan Stubbs top scored with a sublime 72 off 28 balls in his first international innings and Reeza Hendricks made 57, but the tourists fell short on 193-8 in a run-fest.

Jos Buttler smashed 22 off only seven balls after losing yet another toss, but Lungi Ngidi (5-39) removed the skipper and fellow opener Jason Roy.

Dawid Malan (43) was looking in ominous touch before he nicked Andile Phehlukwayo behind, setting the stage for Bairstow and Moeen put on an astonishing show of power and timing.

From 112-3 after 12 overs, the left and right-hand combination wreaked havoc, putting on 106 for the fourth wicket in just under six overs, with Bairstow dropped twice as the Proteas suffered under the lights.

Moeen fell straight after bringing up a fastest T20I half-century and Bairstow finally departed in the last over from Ngidi, just missing out on hundred.

The in-form Reece Topley (2-29) dismissed Quinton de Kock and Rilee Rossouw cheaply, but Hendricks and Stubbs made a game of it as they made hay on a great track.

Moeen had Hendricks caught by Sam Curran and Adil Rashid (2-21) struck twice before Stubbs took centre stage as the boundaries continued to flow, but he was one of Richard Gleeson's three late victims and Chris Jordan bowled superbly at the death in a hugely impressive win for England.

Bairstow and Moeen go berserk 

The powerful Bairstow struck eight sixes and Moeen cleared the rope six times, with Phehlukwayo (1-63) conceding 33 runs from an astonishing 17th over and Tabraiz Shamsi going for 49 in three wicket-less overs.

Rossouw and Hendricks dropped Bairstow, who was finally removed in an excellent last over from the Ngidi, but the damage had already been done.

Stubbs stakes his claim

The 21-year-old Stubbs had batted in his only two previous internationals against India, but he staked a claim to be a regular fixture in the side with the T20 World Cup on the horizon.

He hit eight sixes to keep the Proteas in with an outside chance of chasing down a huge target, scoring at a rapid rate on both sides of the wicket before falling to Gleeson (3-51).

Top seed Iga Swiatek brushed aside compatriot Magdalena Frech to advance to the last 16 at the Poland Open on Tuesday.

The Warsaw native took 73 minutes to secure a safe passage to the next round with a 6-1 6-2 victory, setting up a clash with Romanian Gabriela Lee – who defeated Raluka Serban on Tuesday.

Swiatek won 76.2 per cent of total service points and won 61.8 per cent of the overall points in the match, with Frech on the back foot throughout, extending her winning streak on clay to 17 matches.

It was Swiatek's first time on the court since defeat at Wimbledon to Alize Cornet, which brought an end to a remarkable 37-match unbeaten run.

Elsewhere, eighth seed Petra Martic overcame Weronika Falkowska 7-5 6-4, while there were also victories for Laura Pigossi, Elisabetta Cocciaretto, Sara Errani and Ana Bogdan.

In the Prague Open, Wimbledon quarter-finalist Marie Bouzkova advanced after a dominant 6-1 6-2 victory against Czech teenager Dominika Salkova - setting up a clash against another teenager, 19-year-old Russian Oksana Selekhmeteva.

There were also victories for Chloe Paquet, Wang Qiang and Magda Linette on day five of the tournament.

Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios was a late withdrawal from the Atlanta Open, after he was originally scheduled to play Peter Gojowczyk on Tuesday.

Kyrgios' replacement in Adrian Mannarino eventually defeated Gojowczyk 6-3 7-6 (9-7), but the Wimbledon finalist's withdrawal due to injury overshadowed the match.

After receiving a wild card for the Cincinnati Masters, the 2016 champion in Atlanta was expected to make a deep run to kick off his hard-court season.

Coming out to apologise to the crowd before Gojowczyk and Mannarino took to the court, Kyrgios expressed his sadness at the withdrawal, in the hope he could still play in the doubles draw with fellow Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis.

"I'm extremely shattered that I'm not able to compete tonight," he said pre-match. "I've won this tournament once, and you know, I'm playing some of the best tennis of my career.

"All I wanted to do was come out here and give you guys a show, to see what I was capable of. I'm unable to give out my best performance today, and I'm just extremely sorry.

"I'm going to keep my hopes up and maybe be able to continue doubles with Thanasi this week. I hope you'll all not be too hard on me."

Kokkinakis just has the doubles to attend to now after Andres Martin's 6-3 6-2 win, while Ilya Ivashka progressed with a 6-0 3-6 6-3 win over Quentin Halys.

James Duckworth was the lone Australian to advance on Tuesday, beating Dominik Koepfer 6-1 6-7 (5-7) 6-3. 

Jenson Brooksby made an encouraging Atlanta Open debut earlier in the day, eliminating Benoit Paire 6-3 6-1 to reach the second round.

Countryman and fifth seed Tommy Paul breezed past wild card Jack Sock 6-1 6-1, while Ben Shelton and Mackenzie McDonald also advanced.

Dominic Thiem started his bid for a second Austrian Open title with a comfortable triumph over Alexander Shevchenko.

Thiem, a 2019 winner at the tournament in his home country, prevailed 6-4 6-2 in Kitzbuhel.

He will next face compatriot Sebastian Ofner as he seeks a first title since his grand slam breakthrough at the US Open in 2020.

Ofner came from a set down to beat former world number seven Richard Gasquet 1-6 7-5 7-5.

Meanwhile, seventh seed Pedro Martinez saved six out of six break points en route to a 7-6 6-3 victory over Chilean Nicolas Jarry.

At the Croatia Open in Umag, Bernabe Zapata Miralles set up a round of 16 meeting with third seed Holger Rune by beating Croatian Dino Prizmic, who retired when facing a 6-4 3-0 deficit.

Alex Molcan is safely through to the next round after defeating Duje Ajdukovic, while French 23-year-old Corentin Moutet cruised to a straight-sets victory over sixth seed Daniel Altmaier.

Top seed Anett Kontaveit took just 48 minutes to secure her place in the second round of the Prague Open, but Sorana Cirstea suffered a surprise loss. 

Defeated in the final of the Hamburg European Open last weekend, Kontaveit got straight back to winning ways in rapid time with a 6-0 6-1 win over Ekaterine Gorgodze. 

The world number two got 81.8 per cent of her first serves in, with the overwhelmed Gorgodze only able to win nine returning points across the entire match. 

Up next for Kontaveit is Lucie Havlickova after the Czech defeated compatriot Barbora Palicova 6-2 7-6 (7-5). 

Fourth seed Cirstea was sent packing from the first round by 19-year-old qualifier Oksana Selekhmeteva, whose 7-5 6-4 success was her first in the main draw of a WTA Tour event. 

Dominika Salkova marked her WTA main-draw debut with a 6-1 6-4 win over Ylena In-Albon, while Barbora Krejcikova delighted the home crowd with her 6-3 6-1 triumph against Anna Blinkova. 

Due to persistent rain, only three matches were completed at the Warsaw Open on Tuesday. 

Clara Burel, Ana Bogdan and Jasmine Paolini all advanced to the second round with wins over Anna-Karolina Schmiedlova, Nuria Parrizas-Diaz and Danka Kovinic respectively. 

Brandon Nakashima needed all three sets to deal with gritty Australian Jordan Thompson, ultimately prevailing 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 6-3 in the first round of the Atlanta Open.

America's Nakashima – who took Nick Kyrgios to five sets at Wimbledon – was the highest seed in action as things kicked off on Monday, and the difference in the match proved to be his quality ground strokes.

Both players won at least 79 per cent of their successful first serves, but while Thompson's effectiveness dipped to 39 per cent on his second serve, Nakashima's stayed up at 65 per cent, only allowing two break point opportunities all match.

Nakashima will meet John Millman in the next round after Millman defeated fellow Australian Alexei Popyrin 7-6 (7-1) 4-6 6-3.

Popyrin clearly had the serving advantage, winning the ace count 12-to-four, but in a match where each player only one had break of serve each, Millman found the important points when it really mattered.

Japan's Taro Daniel came back from a rough start to handle the challenge of America's Sebastian Korda 1-6 6-1 6-3.

Korda was in total control early, winning 12 of his 13 points on serve (92 per cent) in the opening set, but that number dipped sharply to 37 per cent (13-of-35) as Daniel turned the match on its head and found a way to counterpunch the American.

The last singles contest saw Kwon Soon-woo win a hard-fought clash with Marcos Giron 7-6 (7-3) 4-6 7-5. The match was so closely contested that Kwon won 51 per cent of the total points (104-of-204), while Giron won 49 per cent (100-of-204).

Meanwhile, Kyrgios was the biggest name in action, taking the doubles court in his Australian Open-winning partnership with Thanasi Kokkinakis, defeating Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 7-6 (10-8) 6-3.

Former world number 17 Cristian Garin was beaten 6-4 7-5 by Federico Coria in the first round of the Austrian Open in Kitzbuhel, while Matteo Berrettini and defending champion Casper Ruud withdrew from the tournament.

2017 runner-up Joao Sousa cruised past Vit Kopriva 6-1 7-5 and Jurij Rodionov set up a Round of 16 meeting with third seed Roberto Bautista Agut with a straight-sets victory over Hernan Casanova.

Dominic Thiem, who won the 2019 edition of the competition, will face Alexander Shevchenko tomorrow while Richard Gasquet will take on Sebastian Ofner.

2016 Croatia Open winner Fabio Fognini will not be regaining his title in Umag this year, after the seventh seed was knocked out by Colombian Daniel Galan in a 3-6 7-5 3-6 defeat.

Galan will play Giulio Zeppieri in the next round, who came from one set down to overcome world number 90 Pedro Cachin 3-6 6-1 6-4.

Fifth seed Alex Molcan plays his first game tomorrow against Duje Adjukovic, and sixth seed Daniel Altmaier will take on French 23-year-old Corentin Moutet.