Second-seeded Jelena Jankovic was ousted in straight sets in the fourth round by Tamarine Tanasugarn yesterday, leaving the women’s draw without its top three ranked players.
Jankovic’s 6-3, 6-2 loss means that none of the top three women reached the quarter-finals — the first time that has happened at a Grand Slam tournament in the Open era. No. 1 Ana Ivanovic and No. 3 Maria Sharapova were upset last week.
Playing with her left knee heavily strapped, Jankovic was never in serious contention against 60th-ranked Tanasugarn. The 31-year-old Thai, playing in her 12th consecutive Wimbledon, was also treated for a lower back problem during changeovers in the second set.
PHOTO: EPA
After converting on match point to reach the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam for the first time, Tanasugarn covered her face with her hands and broke into tears.
Defending champion Venus Williams, meanwhile, beat Russian teenager Alisa Kleybanova 6-3, 6-4 to move closer to another potential final against sister Serena.
Williams, a four-time Wimbledon winner, nearly squandered a 5-1 lead in the second set against the 18-year-old Kleybanova. She lost nine points in a row from her third match point in the eighth game and saved three break points at 5-4, before finally closing it with a backhand volley winner.
PHOTO: AFP
Venus Williams will next face Tanasugarn, who benefited from a below-par performance from Jankovic. The Serb, who strained her knee during her third-round win on Friday over Caroline Wozniacki, played erratically and committed 19 unforced errors.
Also advancing was Chinese wild-card entry Zheng Jie, who followed up her upset of Ivanovic last week to beat 19-year-old Hungarian Agnes Szavay 6-3, 6-4. Zheng was down 4-1 in the second set and then won five games in a row before securing her first Grand Slam quarter-final berth.
Twice former champion Serena Williams produced her best display at Wimbledon this year to thrash Bethanie Mattek 6-3, 6-3 in their all-American fourth round match.
Williams will meet either fourth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia or 14th seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland in the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile on Court One, Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic, the No. 18 seed, defeated eighth seed Anna Chakvetadze of Russia 4-6, 7-6 (0), 6-3.
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