Manic Monday as Williams sisters, Wozniacki ousted

It took less than two brutal hours at Wimbledon yesterday to disprove the theory that Serena and Venus Williams could march back to continue their domination of the grasscourt slam having hardly swung their rackets in anger for months. First defending champion Serena was bundled out in the fourth round 6-3 7-6 by livewire Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli and, with that news still being absorbed on a sweltering day at the All England Club, five-times champion Venus was destroyed 6-2 6-3 by Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova. The Manic Monday carnage in the women’s draw was not confined to the American siblings who had won nine of the last 11 women’s singles titles at Wimbledon. World number one Caroline Wozniacki was also dispatched 1-6 7-6 7-5 by Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova to leave 2004 champion Maria Sharapova as the clear favourite for the title. The Russian fifth seed overpowered China’s Peng Shuai 6-4 6-2. Things went more according to the script in the men’s singles with home favourite Andy Murray producing a regal performance to crush Richard Gasquet 7-6 6-3 6-2 and keep alive hopes of a first British men’s singles champion for 75 years. Murray was joined in the quarter-finals by world number two Novak Djokovic, the Serb enjoying a stress-free passage against French serve and volleyer Michael Llodra. Djokovic will be wary of his next opponent, however, after 18-year-old Australian qualifier Bernard Tomic became the youngest man to reach the last eight since Boris Becker in 1986, following his thrashing of fifth seed Robin Soderling with an equally impressive win over Belgium’s Xavier Malisse. In the last match of the day, defending champion Rafael Nadal defeated Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro 7-6 (8/6), 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals. The top seed will face American 10th seed Mardy Fish for a place in the semi-finals. Serena, who returned from 11 months out with a lacerated foot and then life-threatening blood clots just in time for Wimbledon, had spent the first three rounds shaking off the rust and appeared to be rediscovering the firepower that has brought the 29-year-old 13 grand slam titles. Bartoli appeared to be playing with fire at times, jumping around inside the baseline as her opponent wound up her mighty serve and fist-pumping towards Williams after big points. She carried it off, though, claiming her first victory over the American on her fifth match point after some fidgety moments for father and coach Walter, who Bartoli banished from court on Saturday.While Serena at least went down fighting, 31-year-old Venus produced a lame performance against Pironkova, the player who stopped her in the quarter-finals last year. “Unfortunately I seem not to have my good days against her,” Venus said. “I think we both envisioned seeing this day going a little bit different.” With the Williams sisters packing their bags the Venus Rosewater Dish could get a new name on it on Saturday although Sharapova, whose career launched into orbit when she lifted the silverware as a 17-year-old in 2004, will take some stopping. Two players hoping to claim a first grand slam title, Czech Petra Kvitova and Victoria Azarenka, also impressed. Eighth seed Kvitova, a semi-finalist last year, thrashed Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium 6-0 6-2 and fourth seed Azarenka, whose wailing again drowned out the rumble of low flying jets, overwhelmed Russia’s Nadia Petrova 6-2 6-2 to seal a clash with outsider Tamira Paszek. Germany’s Sabine Lisicki is still on course to become the first wildcard to win the women’s singles after a 7-6 6-1 defeat of Petra Cetkovska and will next face Bartoli.Six-time champion Roger Federer recovered from losing the first set to move into the Wimbledon quarter-finals with a 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny. Federer made serene progress through his first three matches at the All England Club without dropping a single set, but the third seed was unable to preserve that record against Youzhny on Court One. The 29-year-old lost the opening set of the match in a tie-break, although he wasn’t too concerned about that as he quickly recovered his composure to see off the tenacious 18th seed and set up a last eight clash against France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Federer, who last won Wimbledon in 2009, has now reached 29 consecutive Grand Slam quarter-finals to extend his Open era record and remains on course to equal Pete Sampras’s record of seven Wimbledon men’s singles titles. “It was a tough first set to lose in the end because I was playing well,” Federer said. “To lose the first set in a Slam is tricky mentally.”