Jankovic title hopes slide away
Jankovic fell away after a strong start to the match
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Tuesday, 03, Jul 2007 11:42
Number three seed Jelena Jankovic has bowed out of Wimbledon after being overturned 3-6 7-5 6-3 by France's Marion Bartoli.
The Serb had been tipped by many to upset the established order of high-profile names in the women's draw and grab her first grand slam title after finding a rich vein of form coming into the tournament.
But she could not add to her record number of wins for this year as a series of rain delays prevented her from establishing any rhythm against her gutsy opponent.
An upset had not seemed on the cards as Jankovic dominated Bartoli's opening service game of the match and broke at the earliest possible opportunity.
Both players' serves looked fragile however, and Jankovic only took the first by virtue of breaking four times in the set compared to Bartoli's three.
The advantage continued to swap between the pair through the second until Bartoli finally cemented one of her breaks with a solid service game of her own to take the match into a decider.
Bartoli established a crucial break in the seventh game and when Jankovic squandered three chances to immediately peg back her opponent she appeared to be consigned to a loss.
In the end a tentative attempted drop-shot from Jankovic drifted off court to give Bartoli the finest scalp of her career.
The 18th seed refused to get carried away with her win however as she looks forward to a quarter-final clash against Michaella Krajicek.
"It's not a big surprise for me - I'm a top-20 player - but I haven't won Wimbledon. It was a great match overall, I played great, I was happy but not over happy," she said.