Defending champion Serena, world no 1 Caroline and 5-time winner Venus exit
Defending champion Serena, world no 1 Caroline and 5-time winner Venus exitDefending champion Serena Williams, five-time champion Venus Williams and top seed Caroline Wozniacki were sent crashing out of Wimbledon yesterday as the women's singles was rocked by a triple upset.
Serena, who has only recently returned from a year-long layoff caused by injury and life-threatening health problems, was stunned 6-3, 7-6 (8/6) by fiery Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli in a pulsating battle on Court One.
USA's Serena Williams US during yesterday's Wimbledon Rd 4 match
against France's Marion Bartoli in London
Sister Venus during her Rd 4 match against Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki during yesterdays Wimbledon fourth round
match against Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova in London.
Wozniacki lost 6-1, 6-7 (5/7), 5-7.u00a0 PICS/AFP Big sister Venus lost 6-2, 6-3 to Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova, who had also defeated the American in the last eight here last year. Pironkova will face Czech eighth seed Petra Kvitova who skated past Belgian 19th seed Yanina Wickmayer 6-0, 6-2.
Danish World No 1 Wozniacki will have to wait a while longer for her maiden Grand Slam triumph as she was beaten 1-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-5 by 24th seeded Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova.
Sharapova sizzlesMeanwhile, Maria Sharapova downed China's Peng Shuai 6-4, 6-2 in the Wimbledon fourth round to reach the quarter-finals for the first time since 2006.u00a0 She faces Cibulkova next.
