Keys appeared on course for a first fourth-round appearance at her home slam since 2023 after taking a commanding third set lead against Olympic champion Zheng.

But the 2025 Australian Open winner would miss a match point and lose each of the final seven games in a 1-6 7-6 (7-3) 7-5 loss that stunned the crowd.

The 31-year-old Keys said she felt as though she “couldn’t play tennis anymore” in the final set.

“I obviously got off to a really good lead, and then I got really scared, like I couldn’t swing [the racquet],” Keys said.

“I felt like I couldn’t play tennis anymore. It just felt like it was a much bigger deal than just playing a tennis match all of a sudden.”

Keys, who lost the 2017 US Open final to fellow American Sloane Stephens, went out in the fourth round at the other three majors in 2026.

“I feel like I’ve been struggling for a while now. I’m going to have to make some sort of changes,” Keys said.

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“I just kind of keep putting it off because that’s how the tennis world works. It’s just to the point where I actually need to do something about it.”

Anisimova, beaten by world number one Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s US Open final, lost in straight sets to Russian-born Austrian 24th seed Anastasia Potapova.

The 25-year-old was visibly frustrated with herself throughout the contest, losing her serve twice in the first set and four times in a topsy-turvy second.

Meanwhile, two-time champion Naomi Osaka fought back from a break down in the decider to see off Belgian 23rd seed Elise Mertens.

Osaka, seeded 13th, won 6-3 3-6 7-5 to set up a last-16 match against second seed Elena Rybakina.

Kazakhstan’s Rybakina, who knows she will be guaranteed to become the new world number one if she reaches the semi-finals, demonstrated her quality in a 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 victory over Ukraine’s Yuliia Starodubtseva.

Taylor has been unequivocal that Croke Park would be the end and she walks away having beaten every opponent she faced as a professional.

Her only defeat came against Chantelle Cameron in Dublin in 2023. Six months later, Taylor returned to the 3Arena and avenged it to become undisputed champion in a second weight division.

After the final bell, she paid tribute to her family and somehow held the tears back as she spoke to the crowd.

“There’s nothing like an Irish mammy,” she said, smiling as she thanked those closest to her.

For a fighter who has never hidden her dislike of media interviews, there was something striking about the confidence with which she walked around the ring, microphone in hand, soaking up the final moments.

“We did it. We brought boxing back to Croke Park. You were with me in London 2012, you were with me with the heartbreak of Rio. You stayed with me when I turned pro,” Taylor said.

“I don’t know any other country that would sell 80,000 tickets. Ireland is the only country. “

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Taylor will forever be defined by her trilogy wins against Amanda Serrano and leaves with a staggering list of accolades, but her true impact cannot be measured in statistics alone.

That legacy belongs to the young girl who once pretended to be a boy just to box when girls were not allowed.

She fought tirelessly to get the sport sanctioned in Ireland and included in the Olympics, before going on to conquer both the amateur and professional codes.

The belts will eventually gather dust, but the trail Taylor blazed across the sport will never fade.

The 30-year-old said: “It was amazing. Thank you to everyone. It was an incredible qualifying. From the first lap in Q1, I felt very good in the car, trying to chip away a bit every single session.

“It felt like a very good lap. It has been nine years trying to chase a pole position and to take my first win here and then my first pole here is amazing.”

Russell, who had been a strong favourite for pole in the light of Antonelli’s penalty, said: “Firstly, massive congrats to Pierre because that’s an incredible performance.

“We were finishing a game of chess 15 minutes before qualifying and he beat me there and I thought, ‘well, I will beat him in qualifying.’ But here we are. I am disappointed not to be on pole but Pierre was very fast from Q1.”

Piastri’s result is a boost for the Australian, after a difficult few races, and it came with a time he set on his first flying lap.

He was leading the pack around, with Norris behind him, at the start of the final runs, not an ideal position given the importance of a tow at Monza, and locked up into the first chicane, going straight on into the run-off area.

“The first lap felt quite good,” the Australian said. “I tried to see if anyone wanted to go in front out of the pit lane but no-one did.

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“It was always going to be difficult. I tried to be as late as possible into the first chicane and locked up so that was the session.”

Piastri’s mistake also hampered Norris. Now without a slipstream, he was 0.4secs down at the first sector and bled time through the lap. “Without a slipstream, with our straight-line deficiency, it’s hard to put something good together,” said the Briton.

Ferrari had looked set to be in the mix at the front before qualifying with their new engine that was believed to be worth about 0.1secs per lap.

But the session did not go their way.

Hamilton made it through into the final session by only 0.001secs as Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto just failed to displace him, and let out an expletive over the radio when he saw the narrow escape.

And the red cars were just not fast enough in the final session. Leclerc was fourth on both his runs, while Hamilton, ninth on his first run, improved on his second but ended up 0.007secs behind his team-mate.