Serena Williams Out Of Wimbledon 2011, Falls To Marion Bartoli

No. 9 Marion Bartoli of France scored one of the biggest wins of her career Monday on Court No. 1 at the All-England Club, defeating two-time defending champion Serena Williams 6-3, 7-6(6) in the fourth round.

Bartoli broke Serena at 5-5 in the second set, and had two match points serving at 6-5, 40-15. But Serena saved both, and then a third, eventually breaking Bartoli to force a tiebreak.

But fearless returning from Bartoli again put her in the lead, and on her fifth match point of the day Bartoli finished off Serena with an ace.

The consequences of this loss for Serena could be long-lasting. Not only is her chance at a three-peat gone, her ranking will now fall well outside the top 100. If she plays a full schedule the remainder of the year her ranking should return closer to where it belongs within months.

Bartoli has been one of the hottest players in the game last month, making it to the semifinals of the French Open and winning the Premier-level Wimbledon warm-up tournament in Eastbourne. But those achievements pale in comparison to knocking out Serena Williams at Wimbledon (in straight sets, no less).

Wild card Sabine Lisicki (who herself knocked off No. 3 Li Na in the second round) awaits Bartoli in the quarterfinals. Lisicki defeated Petra Cetkovska 7-6(3), 6-1 in her fourth round match.

And if you were wondering--yes, Bartoli’s parents were allowed to stay for the entirety of this win.

Venus Williams, now the last remaining American woman in the draw, is next up on Centre Court against Tsvetana Pironkova, who knocked her out of the 2010 tournament. Their match was preceded by Andy Murray’s straight-sets win over Richard Gasquet, 7-6(3), 6-3, 6-2.