Precocious teen and amateur snake wrangler Mirra Andreeva has handed sixth seed Ons Jabeur the heaviest defeat of her grand slam career to power into the third round of the Australian Open.
The 16-year-old Russian was runner-up in the junior girls at Melbourne Park last year and reached the fourth round at Wimbledon to rocket into the world's top 50.
Andreeva looked every inch a superstar on the rise on Wednesday as she sent Jabeur packing 6-0 6-2 in just 54 minutes.
Andreeva's victory set up a third-round encounter with Frenchwoman Diane Parry, a 7-5 6-2 winner over Russian Kamilla Rakhimova.
It was Andreeva's first win over a player ranked inside the top 10.
Her pre-match preparation included encounters with a koala and snake in a meet-the-animals session at Melbourne Park on Tuesday.
"I held the snake, I did it with my agent," Andreeva said.
"He was so scared, but I forced him to do it."
Despite being a fixture in the top 10 for several years, Jabeur is still seeking a maiden grand slam singles crown.
The Tunisian has lost the past two Wimbledon deciders, and also came up short in the 2022 US Open final to Iga Swiatek.
The 29-year-old has never gone beyond the quarter-finals in seven visits to Melbourne Park.
She had also never been beaten so heavily in a grand slam career covering 80 matches as she was by Andreeva.
Later on Wednesday, eighth seed Maria Sakkari joined Jabeur in making an early exit at the hands of a Russian, suffering a shock 6-4 6-4 loss to Elina Avanesyan.
The Russian will next play Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk, who outlasted Belgian 25th seed Elise Mertens 5-7 6-1 7-6 (10-6).
Another less celebrated Russian youngster, qualifier Mari Timofeeva, caused a second boilover early on Wednesday.
Timofeeva, 20, overcame a slow start to end the challenge of former world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki 1-6 6-4 6-1.
"I'm really a bit speechless," Timofeeva said.
"I went into the match without any expectations, just wanted to show what I was capable of."
Mother-of-two Wozniacki, playing the fifth tournament of her comeback, joined fellow former Open winners and mums Naomi Osaka and Angelique Kerber through the exit door.
Timofeeva's third-round opponent is Brazilian 10th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia, who routed Russian qualifier Alina Korneeva 6-1 6-2.
The clash between Danish legend Wozniacki and Timofeeva under the roof on John Cain Arena was the only match to begin at 11am (AEDT) on Wednesday as heavy overnight and morning rain pushed back the start of play on the outside courts.
Play on the other show courts began at midday, with world No.4 Coco Gauff winning her all-American affair with Caroline Dolehide 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 in an hour and 44 minutes.
Dolehide faltered against the 19-year-old star while serving for the first set at 6-5, before the wheels came off in the second.
Gauff has never been past the fourth round at Melbourne Park and is playing her final grand slam as a teenager after winning the 2023 US Open crown.
Another American, Alycia Parks, awaits her in the round of 32 after the 23-year-old upset 2021 US Open finalist and Canadian 32nd seed Leylah Annie Fernandez.
Gauff said she grew up practising with Parks and her sister during their formative years living in Florida's Delray Beach area.
"She's one of the most, if not the most, athletic players on tour," said Gauff.
Australian double's world No.1 Storm Hunter, meanwhile, won through to the third round of a grand slam singles draw for the first time after ousting German warrior Laura Siegemund 6-4 3-6 6-3.
The Rockhampton-born 29-year-old will step up a grade in class on Friday against Czech world No.11 Barbora Krejcikova, who belted German Tamara Korpatsch 6-2 6-2.
No.16 seed and 2022 US Open semi-finalist Caroline Garcia was stunned by Poland's Magdalena Frech 6-4 7-6 (7-2), equalling her career-best performance at a major.
In other results, American Amanda Anisimova accounted for Argentine Nadia Podoroska 6-2 6-3, Russian qualifier Anastasia Zakharova smashed Slovenia's Kaja Juvan 6-1 6-1 and Spain's Paula Badosa beat Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2 6-3.
