Lights Out!

Marion Bartoli is through to the Quarterfinals of the Australian Open, as she dispatches Jelena Jankovic in 2 very convincing sets - 61 64. The flat-hitting French woman was on fire the entire match, putting it to the current #1 in fashionable style. She's sporting a new, streamlined physique as well. She actually looks like a tennis player (despite her balletesque serving stance). Jelena is likely to lose her #1 ranking following the Aussie Open, and will have to fend off the media wolves regarding her validation as #1. In order for her to stay at the top, either Serena, Safina, or Dementieva will have to lose in their Quarterfinal matches. I doubt that all of the remaining top seeds will fall before the Semifinals.

Side note: Perhaps Jelena should challenge the line calls a little less. In the second set alone, she challenged 3 times, losing each of those challenges. And that was at 2-2! After that, she had no challenges remaining for the entire set. I read somewhere that Serena consciously decides not to challenge often, preferring to stay in the moment and not be sidetracked by the minor details. Seems to work for her!