Williams sisters’ return cut short on day of upsets

Defending champion Serena,sister Venus and top-seed Wozniacki are all sent packing.

Venus and Serena Williams were both eliminated in the fourth round of Wimbledon on Monday,the first time in five years that neither sister will play in the quarterfinals at the All England Club.

Defending champion and four-time winner Serena was the first to go,beaten 6-3 7-6 (6) by Marion Bartoli of France,cutting short the Americans return to Grand Slam tennis after nearly a year out with serious health problems. Older sister and five-time champion here,Venus was ousted 6-2 6-3 by Tsvetana Pironkova with the exact same score of the Bulgarians win in last years quarterfinals.

Also knocked out was top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki,who fell 1-6 7-6 (5) 7-5 to No. 24 Dominika Cibulkova in the Danes latest failed attempt to win her first Grand Slam title.

Before the women title contenders fell one after another,fired-up former champion Maria Sharapova overpowered Peng Shuai 6-4 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals.

With fiance Sasha Vujacic roaring his approval on a sweltering Court Two,the Russian fifth seed had a few early problems against the unorthodox Chinese before striding away to the last eight on the lawns for the first time since 2006. The 2004 champion had to save two break points as the opening two games took nearly 15 minutes and her forehand and serve were both a little hit-or-miss.

The first woman to move into the quarters was fourth-seeded Victoria Azarenka,who beat Nadia Petrova 6-2 6-2. German wild card Sabine Lisicki reached the quarters downing Petra Cetkovska 7-6 (3) 6-1. No. 8 Petra Kvitova,a semifinalist here last year,needed just 45 minutes to defeat No. 19 Yanina Wickmayer 6-0 6-2.

Among the men,matches justified their seedings except when 18-year-old Australian sensation Bernard Tomic created flutters by being the youngest players to reach the Wimbledon quarters since Boris Becker in 1986 and the first qualifier to do so since Vladimir Voltchkov in 2000 when he beat Belgian Xavier Malisse 6-1 7-5 6-4.

Djokovic in last eight

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Tomic will next play world number three Novak Djokovic,who crushed Frances Michael Llodra 6-3 6-3 6-3. I think he has a great potential,he is a great talent. He believes that he can win against the top players,and he has done that very comfortably in the last couple of rounds here.

He loves playing on grass and if you analyse his game,he loves playing on the fast surfaces. He doesnt give you a lot of time,he serves really well and he doesnt make many unforced errors, Djokovic said of his friend and hitting partner Tomic.

Royal support for Murray

The Andy Murray-Richard Gasquet match was not a reminder of their thrilling five-setter in 2008,the Frenchman losing 7-6 6-3 6-2. The fourth seed was cheered on from the Centre Court royal box by Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge. It was very different conditions today. It was very quick compared with a couple days ago under the roof so it took a while to get used to that, Murray said.

Unseeded Spaniard Feliciano Lopez,who knocked out Andy Roddick,awaits in the last eight but Murray is feeling confident as he bids to become the first British man to win Wimbledon in 75 years. Theres not been anything Ive been really unhappy with,he added. Today,like I said,I didnt return well the first set but the serves been good. I havent got broken too many times, he added.