Harsh lesson for Ivanovic in shock defeat

ANA IVANOVIC crashed out of Wimbledon admitting she must come to terms with her new status as the prized scalp of women’s tennis.

Top seed Ivanovic was humbled 6-1 6-4 by China’s Jie Zheng – a player ranked 133 in the world – after hitting the self-destruct button in an error-strewn display.

The 20-year-old Serbian became world number one during the recent French Open, a tournament that provided her first grand slam title.

But she has struggled at the All England Club, edging a marathon second-round contest against Nathalie Dechy before succumbing to the relentless accuracy of Zheng.

A difficult week has taught Ivanovic that her climb to the summit of the women’s game has brought with it a fresh level of competition.

“The one thing I’ve learnt about being number one is that everyone is so pumped up to beat me,” she said.

“Now my opponents will always try their best to beat me. In my previous matches here and today, my opponents felt they had nothing to lose.

“They’ve played some of their best tennis against me. It’s something you have to accept and, with time, learn to deal with.”

On the few occasions Ivanovic looked her usual self, Zheng struggled to cope, but the tenacity of the pocket battleship from China ensured Court One belonged to her.

The victory made her the first Asian to knock out a world number one at a grand slam and the wild card from the earthquake-ravaged province of Sichuan admitted even she was shocked.

“Winning was great because I never believed I could do it in two sets. It was tough because she is powerful,” Zheng said.

“I knew I just had to keep on going. I kept telling myself that she’s the better player and so I must go 100% for every point. This is so exciting for me because last year I missed Wimbledon with an ankle injury.”

Elsewhere, Serena Williams raced into the fourth round after demolishing France’s Amelie Mauresmo 7-6 (7/5) 6-1.

It was the 10th time in 12 meetings Williams had triumphed over Mauresmo, who was troubled by a thigh injury which required treatment midway through the second set.

Williams said: “I didn’t play my best tennis. I was just glad I could pull through.

“I haven’t been playing my best but I’m thinking positive. My volleys are benefiting from my doubles and in the second week I should do better.”

It was a match of unforced errors and wildly fluctuating fortunes, which saw four breaks of serve in the first set alone.

Meanwhile, Svetlana Kuznetsova celebrated her 23rd birthday today with a battling victory over Barbora Zahlavova Strycova.

The fourth seed overcame two bouts of nerves and a lengthy rain delay to post a 6-2 6-4 result against the Czech qualifier in one hour and 19 minutes.

There was nothing to celebrate for last year’s losing finalist Marion Bartoli, who was beaten in straight sets to American Bethanie Mattek.

Bartoli, who was beaten by Venus Williams in the 2007 final after shocking Justine Henin in the semis, lost 6-4 6-1 to Mattek, who now takes on Serena Williams in the next round.

A slightly shocked Mattek, 23, said: “This is my best result in a grand slam by far, it’s pretty cool being able to beat the finalist. She’s a good player and she’s tough on grass. I haven’t played Serena in a couple of years — it’ll come down to serving big and sneaking the break.”

Eighth seed Anna Chakvetadze recorded a straight-sets 6-4 6-3 victory over fellow Russian Evgeniya Rodina and will now face Nicole Vaidisova, the 18th seed, in the last 16. The 19-year-old Czech came past Australia’s Casey Dellacqua 6-2 6-4.

Agnes Szavay set up a last-16 meeting with Jie Zheng, after beating Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain in three sets, 7-6 (7/5) 2-6 6-2.