Top seed Jankovic slumps out of Australian Open

World number one Jelena Jankovic crashed out of the Australian Open on Sunday with a humiliating 6-1, 6-4 loss to French 16th seed Marion Bartoli for the biggest upset of the tournament so far.

The top seed made a dismal start in her fourth round match against the fired-up Frenchwomen, finally calling on her renowned fighting qualities too late into the match.

The loss extends Jankovic's Grand Slam drought and marked Bartoli's best performance at a major since she reached the Wimbledon final in 2007.

"I knew Jelena would fight ... the last set was really hard for me but I tried to hang tough and play my game," Bartoli said.

"I played my shots and served so well, I'm just so happy." Bartoli broke Jankovic in the second game then prevented the Serb breaking back twice in the next to race to a 3-0 lead.

The statistics in the first 10 minutes demonstrated Bartoli's dominance, she hit seven winners while Jankovic could not manage one and committed a single unforced error to the Serb's four.

Jankovic looked lethargic as she tried to play her way into the match, constantly casting frustrated glances towards coach Ricardo Sanchez in the player's box.

In contrast, Bartoli was bouncing on her toes between points and chased down everything Jankovic sent her way, returning the world number one's groundstrokes with interest.

The Frenchwomen treated Jankovic's serve with distain, going up another break in the fourth.

Only some desperate scrambling prevented Bartoli from completing a humiliating clean sweep of the first set, with Jankovic finally getting on the board after 27 minutes.

It was a temporary reprieve and Bartoli outfoxed her opponent with a delicately-hit drop shot four minutes later to take the first set.

The Serb's fightback did not begin until the fourth game of the second set when she broke Bartoli's serve for the first time in the match.

Her opponent cancelled out the advantage in the next, with the pair again exchanging breaks in the seven and eighth games.

Bartoli maintained the pressure and the ninth game went to deuce six times as she pressed for a decisive break to complete the rout.

She achieved it when Jankovic netted a backhand return, earning the chance to serve out the match.

The Frenchwomen double faulted on her first match point but sealed the win with a cross court volley, raising her arms in victory.

MELBOURNE, Sunday, AFP