Iga Swiatek crashed out of Wimbledon in straight sets on Saturday, ending the world No 1's 37-match winning streak.
French veteran Alize Cornet, ranked 37, took advantage of an error-strewn performance from her Polish opponent to win 6-4, 6-2 on Court 1 in the shock of the third round.
"I have no words right now," said Cornet afterwards.
"I am a huge fan of Iga, she's so talented and an amazing player and nice ambassador of women's tennis so I'm very flattered I beat her today.
"This kind of match is what I live for, what I'm practicing for, it drives me and I knew I could do it. I had this belief even with her wins, I thought there is a moment you can beat her it's now on grass so I was just believing very hard and I have the best team by my side and the best crowd.
"I guess I like the upsets, it's a really nice feeling right now and I need to process because I still feel like I'm playing I'm not completely realising what I've done.
"It's unreal - I'm playing one of the best seasons of my career I feel great on the court, I'm having so much fun I feel good physically, eight years after my first qualification into the second week I can say I'm still there I'm still so motivated and I still have the fire in me and I hope you guys enjoyed the match."
The top seed was on the back foot right from the start of the match, broken in her first two service games, and could not get back on level terms.
The 20-year-old broke at her first opportunity in the second set but Cornet broke back immediately, repeating the feat twice more as Swiatek's game fell apart.
Swiatek made a total of 33 unforced errors in an uncharacteristically sloppy display.
She had not lost a match since her defeat to Jelena Ostapenko in February at Dubai, winning her past six tournaments, including the French Open.
In reaching the fourth round, Cornet matches her run at Wimbledon in 2014, when she beat Serena Williams in the third round.
Elsewhere, Coco Gauff's challenge came unstuck in the third round when she was beaten by familiar foe Amanda Anisimova 6-7, 6-2, 6-1 in an all-American showdown.
"It's my first time playing on Centre Court and it's the most special day of my career," said a beaming Anisimova, who celebrated her triumph by collapsing on to her back.
"Before the match I was just trying to prepare myself to soak in this moment whether I win or lose but winning today is just so special and I am very grateful for this experience."
