It was more than three minutes outside her best time for the course and well outside her British record for the distance of 1:05:43.

Britain’s Jack Rowe missed out on a record fourth consecutive victory in the men’s race, finishing in second place, 14 seconds behind Birchfield Harriers’ Kadar Omar Abdullahi, who won in a time of 1:01:51.

Britain’s David Weir defended his title in the men’s wheelchair event, winning the race for the fifth time in its nine-year history in a new record time.

The 47-year-old, who retired from Paralympic competition in 2024, knocked 45 seconds off his own record for the course, which he set last year, winning in 46:13.

Eden Rainbow Cooper won the women’s event in 52:47 to defend her title.

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.