June 28, 2008

NO.1 seed and French Open champion Ana Ivanovic has been sent crashing out of Wimbledon in straight sets by Chinese wildcard Zheng Jie, the world No.133.

Ivanovic's 6-1 6-4 defeat comes just a day after No.3 seed and 2004 champion Maria Sharapova was sent packing by world No.154 Alla Kudryavtseva as the chase for the 2008 women's title was thrown wide open.

"It's a real surprise and I have to thank Wimbledon for giving me a wildcard,'' said the 24-year-old Zheng, whose ranking has slipped from a high of 27 because of a serious ankle injury.

"It was tough. Ana has a good serve and a forehand so I tried to play to her backhand. I tried to enjoy it and told myself to keep going,'' added Zheng, a Wimbledon doubles champion in 2006.

Zheng goes on to face Hungarian Agnes Szavay, the No.15 seed, for a place in the quarter-finals while Ivanovic, who had been lucky to survive in the second round, continues to struggle with her world No.1 status.

"There was a little bit of pressure being world No.1,'' said 20-year-old Ivanovic.

"But I adjusted and I wasn't as nervous as I was for the first match. It's still a learning experience for me. I tried to find my game but I knew I was struggling. It's been an emotional few weeks and it has taken its toll.

"I didn't have as good preparation as I hoped for because I had to have some time off, so I didn't have too much time to practise and to do all these little specific movements and things you need to in order to adjust to the grass.

"Obviously it was tough because from the first match on, I tried to find my game, but I felt like I was struggling a little bit.

"It took time to adjust to the grass because, especially after clay, it's a completely different game.''

Serena Williams won the battle of former champions when she beat France's Amelie Mauresmo 7-6 (7-5) 6-1.

Williams, the 2002 and 2003 champion, goes on to face Bethanie Mattek for a place in the quarter-finals after her fellow American put out 2007 runner-up Marion Bartoli 6-4 6-1.

Svetlana Kuznetsova and Anna Chakvetadze helped ease the pain of Russia's Euro 2008 football exit by moving into the last 16.

No.4 seed Kuznetsova celebrated her 23rd birthday with a comfortable 6-2 6-4 win over Czech qualifier Barbora Zahlavova Strycova and will face Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska, the No.14 seed putting out 16-year-old Russian qualifier Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-3 6-2.

Chakvetadze, the No.8 seed, reached the fourth round for the first time with a 6-4 6-3 win over compatriot Evgeniya Rodina.

She next faces Czech Nicole Vaidisova, the No.18 seed, who put out Australia's world No.43 Casey Dellacqua 6-2 6-4.

Vaidisova was a quarter-finalist in 2007 where she lost to Ivanovic despite holding three match points and is desperate to put her season back on track after a nightmare run where she lost six successive first round matches.

She stopped the rot with a quarter-final run at Birmingham two weeks ago and even an hour-long rain suspension couldn't disrupt her rhythm on Friday.