Tennis: Marion Bartoli Defeats Jelena Jankovic
January 25th 2009 05:29
Top seed Jelena Jankovic has been knocked out in the fourth round of the Australian Open in straight sets by Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli.
World No 1 Jankovic, a losing semi-finalist at Melbourne Park last year who is still chasing her first grand slam title, was beaten 6-1 6-4 in one hour and 22 minutes by the No.16 seed.
Bartoli's career highlight to date was reaching the final of Wimbledon in 2007, before eventually going down to Venus Williams.
She dominated the first set of the encounter on Rod Laver Arena and held her nerve in the second.
The crucial moment came in the ninth game of the second set, which Bartoli eventually won on her fourth break point.
She then served out the match for one of the biggest wins of her career.
Bartoli hit an an impressive tally of 34 winners in the two-set match, compared to just 17 from Jankovic.
"It's obviously disappointing. Nobody likes to lose," said Jankovic, who looked lethargic as she tried to play her way into the match.
"It was a tough day for me. You know, I had a slow start. I let my opponent completely come on top of me and play her game."
She is now likely to lose her top ranking, but insisted it was not important.
"It doesn't matter because it's just the beginning of the year, and there is many more tournaments to play," she said.
"So, you know, maybe it will change, the No.1 ranking, but it's not important what you do now, it's the whole year ahead of us."
With Ana Ivanovic and Venus Williams already gone, the first Grand Slam of the season has become one of the most open ever with Bartoli into a quarter-final against either Russia's Vera Zvonareva.
Seventh seed Zvonareva advanced to quarter-finals after winning an all-Russian clash with 10th seed Nadia Petrova 7-5 6-4.
AAP
World No 1 Jankovic, a losing semi-finalist at Melbourne Park last year who is still chasing her first grand slam title, was beaten 6-1 6-4 in one hour and 22 minutes by the No.16 seed.
Bartoli's career highlight to date was reaching the final of Wimbledon in 2007, before eventually going down to Venus Williams.
She dominated the first set of the encounter on Rod Laver Arena and held her nerve in the second.
Marion Bartoli
The crucial moment came in the ninth game of the second set, which Bartoli eventually won on her fourth break point.
She then served out the match for one of the biggest wins of her career.
Bartoli hit an an impressive tally of 34 winners in the two-set match, compared to just 17 from Jankovic.
"It's obviously disappointing. Nobody likes to lose," said Jankovic, who looked lethargic as she tried to play her way into the match.
"It was a tough day for me. You know, I had a slow start. I let my opponent completely come on top of me and play her game."
She is now likely to lose her top ranking, but insisted it was not important.
"It doesn't matter because it's just the beginning of the year, and there is many more tournaments to play," she said.
"So, you know, maybe it will change, the No.1 ranking, but it's not important what you do now, it's the whole year ahead of us."
With Ana Ivanovic and Venus Williams already gone, the first Grand Slam of the season has become one of the most open ever with Bartoli into a quarter-final against either Russia's Vera Zvonareva.
Seventh seed Zvonareva advanced to quarter-finals after winning an all-Russian clash with 10th seed Nadia Petrova 7-5 6-4.
AAP
| 24 |
| Vote |
Add To: 
subscribe to this blog
Go to Craig Hill's home page by clicking here
