MELBOURNE, Australia -- Top-seeded Jelena Jankovic was knocked out in the fourth round of the Australian Open, and will have to search elsewhere for her first Grand Slam title.
Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli, the 2007 Wimbledon finalist, broke Jankovic's serve twice in the first set en route to a 6-1, 6-4 win Sunday and a place in the quarterfinals.
"I tried to not think about it for the whole match," Bartoli said of Jankovic's No. 1 ranking. "This is my first time playing in Rod Laver Arena. I think I just played amazingly today and I'm so glad to put on a good performance."
The 16th-seeded Bartoli had not been past the second round in seven previous trips to Melbourne Park.
Russian world number three Dinara Safina saved two match points and won the last five games in an extraordinary comeback to beat French teenager Alize Cornet 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 in the fourth round on Sunday.
Cornet was on the verge of a huge upset when she recovered from losing the first to lead 5-2 in the third when her game suddenly fell apart under a ferocious attack from Safina.
Cornet twice failed to serve out the match and squandered two match points in the 10th game as Safina turned up the heat to snatch victory.
Safina will play either Jelena Dokic or Alisa Kleybanova in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.
Critics questioned whether Jankovic could convert her numeric ranking into a victory in the championship match at a major. She was a semifinalist at the Australian Open and French Opens last year before losing the U.S. Open final to Serena Williams.
When Bartoli turned up the pressure Sunday, Jankovic tightened up again.
Bartoli was the aggressor, repeatedly sending Jankovic serves back faster than they came over and standing two steps inside the baseline for second serves.
Bartoli hits two-fisted, flat and hard from both sides, and she peppered the lines and corners. Jankovic, repeatedly covering her face or looking to her mother for support and guidance, seemed shellshocked after falling behind 5-0 in the first set despite shouts of "Let's go JJ!" from the crowd.
Jankovic fended off two set points while serving at 1-5, but Bartoli easily held in the next game, finishing off the set with a deft drop shot that caught Jankovic behind the baseline.
Increasingly tentative and bewildered, Jankovic twice lost points early in the second set by stopping play on Bartoli shots that she thought were long but replays showed caught the line. She used up her last challenge of the set in the sixth game.
Bartoli broke to pull ahead 5-4 in a game that went to deuce six times, with Jankovic netting a backhand on breakpoint.
Jankovic wanted to challenge Bartoli's winner in the next game but couldn't. The Frenchwoman went on to hold despite a twitchy double fault at 40-15, whacking a forehand winner down the line and raising her arms in jubilation.
source:ESPN
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