Top seeds Andrey Rublev, Karolina Muchova, Anna Kalinskaya all lose straight-set semifinals

Saturday was not a good day to be a No. 1 seed.

In the three tour-level tournaments following the Australian Open—ATP Montpellier, WTA Linz and WTA Singapore—all three top seeds lost in the semifinals, and all in straight sets.

In Montpellier, Aleksandar Kovacevic defeated Andrey Rublev, 7-5, 6-4. It's the 26-year-old's first Top 10 victory, and will compete in his first ATP final.

In Linz, Ekaterina Alexandrova upset Karolina Muchova, 6-0, 6-4. Alexandrova is a two-time runner-up at the Austrian tournament.

And in Singapore, Ann Li advanced past Anna Kalinskaya when the world No. 18 retired down 7-6 (2), 1-0. Li's lone tour-level title came in 2021.

Only Alexandrova was seeded (No. 4). Kovacevic, ranked No. 102, qualified for the main draw; fellow American Li is 85^th on the WTA. All will make sizable jumps come Monday, with Li expected to at least crack the Top 60 and Alexandrova the Top 30. Kovacevic is projected to reach at least No. 75.

They can ascend further, of course. But if Li and Kovacevic do so, they’ll have beaten the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds. Li meets Elise Mertens; Kovacevic faces Felix Auger-Aliassime. Each second set won their semifinal in straight sets.

The Linz final will see fourth-seeded Alexandrova face fifth-seeded Dayana Yastremska. The Ukrainian ousted No. 8 seed Clara Tauson, 6-1, 6-4.