World number one Ana Ivanovic was sent crashing out of Wimbledon in the third round by world number 133 Jie Zheng.

Ivanovic, the top seed, had survived two match points in the second round against Nathalie Dechy but paid the price for another erratic display.

The Serb struggled with her serve and her backhand was totally out of sorts.

Zheng broke at will in the first set and, although Ivanovic fought to turn things round, she continued to make errors and was thumped 6-1 6-4.

Ivanovic had been lucky to avoid defeat against Dechy, particularly when she saved one match point through a fortunate net-cord which crept over the net.

But her lack of form was completely exposed by Zheng and she had to battle in the second set to avoid complete humiliation.

The 20-year-old, who won the French Open at the start of June to reach the top of the rankings for the first time, again looked tense on Number One Court and her poor serving reflected her fragile state.

Zheng, who won the doubles title here in 2006 but missed the whole of the 2007 season because of an ankle injury, admitted she did not expect to win so easily.

"It was a surprise," Zheng said. "She has a big serve and a big forehand but I tried to go for her backhand."

Ivanovic started slowly and the first sign she was in trouble came as early as her second service game when a double fault saw her broken for the first time.

The 20-year-old had the opportunity to quickly break back but her game was already proving far too inconsistent to take advantage of the few opportunities Zheng was giving her.

And, soon after wasting the opportunity to reduce the deficit to 2-3, she quickly found herself 1-5 down after some big Zheng forehands ripped her serve to shreds.

Again, she had opportunities to reply but wasted four break points in the next game before Zheng wrapped up the set.

Ivanovic's struggles continued and she was broken again at the start of the second set with Zheng again dominant.

The Chinese player dropped her own serve immediately afterwards to give Ivanovic hope at 2-2.

But it soon became clear that another remarkable comeback from the 2007 semi-finalist was not on the cards as more double faults landed her back in trouble.

Zheng had wobbled before despatching Britain's Elena Baltacha in round two but showed no nerves on this occasion, serving out for a stunning victory.

Ivanovic's exit, together with that of third seed Maria Sharapova on Thursday evening, leaves the women's draw wide open.

(BBC)

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