Naomi Osaka blew up two match points as her Australian Open title defense ended in a tense three-set loss to American Amanda Anisimova.
A mouth-watering fourth round between Osaka and world number one Ash Barty is out of the table after Anisimova's fearless performance on Friday night.
World number 60 Osaka won 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (10-5).
Osaka had match points on Anisimova's serve in the third set, but she could not close it.
Anisimova, 20, started well in the tie-break and took a 5-2 lead, which four-time Grand Slam winner Osaka could not take back.
The Japanese superstar looked like she was crying as she exited Margaret Court Arena.
With Osaka returning to the sport this month after a mental break following the US Open in September, Anisimova looked tough in the fight.
She won a WTA lead-up tournament in Melbourne, her second title, after winning her first as a 17-year-old.
In the same year, she reached the fourth round of the Australian Open and became the youngest French Open semifinalist in more than a decade.
But before the US Open, her father and longtime coach Konstantin died of a heart attack at the age of 52, and she struggled on the tour, slipping her ranking from a high of world number 21.
"I am so grateful that I could play so well and get this win, it means a lot," Anisimova said in her on-court interview.
The defeat ended Osaka's nine-game winning streak at Melbourne Park, where it also won the title in 2019.
Osaka described the Open as a sunshine slam, and was trying to get her career back on track after the turmoil of 2021.
Over the course of a year, her ranking dropped to number 14 when she withdrew from the French Open after refusing to work in any media and then missed Wimbledon altogether.
She also admitted that the pressure to be the face of the Tokyo Games must have been too much, falling short in her quest for a medal after lighting the Olympic cauldron.
But she looked mentally refreshed when she arrived in Melbourne, becoming the biggest threat to Barty's bid for her first Australian Open title.
That tag now goes to Anisimova.