US OPEN TENNIS

The women’s side has produced the biggest upset at the time I wrote this. Top seed Jelena Jankovic lost her fourth round match and received a straight sets thrashing from Frenchwoman Marian Bartoli, 1-6, 4-6. Jankovic’s exit follows the path of fellow Serb Ana Ivanovic who was the fifth seed and Venus Williams who was the sixth. But unlike the two, Jankovic’s conqueror has better credentials, someone who can beat the top seed at any given day as long as she plays her best tennis. Marion Bartoli, the 16th seed, gained prominence last year at Wimbledon when she reached the final and played against eventual winner Venus Williams. But what made her feat remarkable was the road she took in reaching the finals. She beat the then third seed Jankovic 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 in a match that was stopped many times because of the weather. Her most notable conquest was when she came from behind a set down and defeated the then top seed Justine Henin in the semi-final 1-6, 7-5, 6-1. Dinara Safina battled re …