NEW YORK -- After losing a hard-fought first game that lasted over 12 minutes, Maria Sharapova showed little emotion under the lights of Arthur Ashe Stadium on Saturday. But the early setback sparked something inside.
She walked back on the court and won the next five games.
It was a dominant performance from Sharapova, who needed just 82 minutes to upset No. 10 seed and 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-2 to advance to the fourth round of the US Open.
"I think despite going into a really long first game, I thought if this is the length of time she'll have to work for one game and win it, I mean, I just went to [the next] game with that perspective," the 22nd-seeded Sharapova said. "I felt pretty confident throughout."
There was little question she thrives under the spotlight. Sharapova improved to 23-0 in night matches in Queens, the best record in tournament history. Ostapenko, who struggled with her serve and her nerve, looked overmatched by her more accomplished opponent.
"I think [the] first game I played OK, [but] then something -- like everything -- just went wrong way," the 21-year-old Ostapenko said. "I mean, I was still trying, but I just made so many unforced errors. Yeah, it was just not my day today."
But Ostapenko is hardly the only higher seed to fall in the tournament's first week. And she wasn't the only top-10 seed pushed out of this tournament Saturday. No. 5 Petra Kvitova fell to Aryna Sabalenka 7-5, 6-1, continuing a disappointing 2018 Grand Slam season in which she failed to make the fourth round at any event.
Earlier in the day, Dominika Cibulkova came back after losing the first set to beat No. 4 seed Angelique Kerber 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. Frustrated, the reigning Wimbledon champion was already in the locker room by the time her name was announced to the crowd.
"I had my chances, but I couldn't take it, especially in the third set," Kerber later said to the media. "Also, I mean, I was not able actually to play my best tennis in the important moment."
So where do we stand? None of the 2018 Grand Slam women's champions remain in the draw heading into the second week of the year's final major. Australian Open winner Caroline Wozniacki lost in the second round to Lesia Tsurenko, and French Open winner Simona Halep saw her run end in the first round against Kaia Kanepi.
And the big losses don't end there. Far from it. Caroline Garcia, Julia Goerges, Garbine Muguruza, Kiki Bertens, Daria Kasatkina and Venus Williams have all lost.
But ... do you know who is still around? (Yeah, you know.)
She was slated to play Halep in Sunday's fourth round, but instead, Williams gets Kanepi. While Williams might need to go through No. 8 Karolina Pliskova and defending champ Sloane Stephens in her half of the draw, it's hardly the daunting path most thought she'd have to take.
After losing to Serena on Friday in the third round, Venus, who knows her sister's game better than anyone, said it was "the best match she's ever played against me." Considering Serena and Venus have played 30 times on the WTA, that is certainly saying something.
Angelique Kerber wins the first set in convincing fashion, but the reigning Wimby champ falls to No. 29 seed Dominika Cibulkova in the final two sets.
While no top-10 seed remains on the bottom half of the draw, there is the Sharapova factor. Serena leads their head-to-head record 19-2, but this is still one of the most tantalizing matchups in the game.
Could this finally mark the return of Williams and Sharapova's rivalry? They were scheduled to play at this year's French Open, which would have been their first match in more than two years, before Serena pulled out moments before with a pectoral injury.
Whatever happens, this unpredictable, upset-riddled year has taught us we just don't know what to expect. Who knows, maybe we'll get our third first-time Grand Slam champion of the year. Dominika Cibulkova, Pliskova, Madison Keys and Naomi Osaka, among others, have played very well.
All we can say is keep watching -- but hedge your bets, because anything is possible.