Jan 21, 2008 9:57 pm US/Central
Serena Williams Dethroned At Australian Open
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) ―
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Serena Williams was knocked out of the Australian Open by Jelena Jankovic on Jan. 21, 2008.
Romeo Gacad/AFP/Getty Images
Defending champion Serena Williams slumped out of the Australian
Open in a 6-3, 6-4 quarterfinal loss to third-ranked Jelena Jankovic on
Tuesday.
Williams, who was unseeded and ranked No. 81 when she won here last
year for her eighth Grand Slam title, struggled with her serve and made
36 unforced errors trying to combat Jankovic's go-for-broke game.
Williams had not dropped a set in her four previous matches,
including a 6-3, 6-4 result against 12th-ranked Nicole Vaidisova in a
rematch of last year's semifinal, but dropped serve twice in the
opening set.
Jankovic dropped her first service game of the match but rallied to win the next four games to take control.
After six breaks of serve in the second, Williams had game points on
serve to pull even at 5-5 but Jankovic rallied again. Williams
double-faulted to give the Serbian player match point and then pushed a
forehand wide to finish in 1 hour and 39 minutes.
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