Posted at 5:54 p.m., Monday, January 21, 2008
Serena Williams loses to Jankovic at Australian Open
By John Pye
Associated Press
Williams, who was unseeded and ranked No. 81 when she won here last year for her eighth Grand Slam title, struggled with her serve and made 36 unforced errors trying to combat Jankovic's go-for-broke game.
Williams had not dropped a set in her four previous matches, including a 6-3, 6-4 result against 12th-ranked Nicole Vaidisova in a rematch of last year's semifinal, but dropped serve twice in the opening set.
Jankovic dropped her first service game of the match but rallied to win the next four games to take control.
After six breaks of serve in the second, Williams had game points on serve to pull even at 5-5 but Jankovic rallied again. Williams double-faulted to give the Serbian player match point and then pushed a forehand wide to finish in 1 hour and 39 minutes.
