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A shell-shocked Amelie Mauresmo had the Australian Open trophy ripped from her grasp yesterday by a teenage upstart who had won only one grand slam match before arriving at Melbourne Park.
On a day when Russian seeds Svetlana Kuznetsova, Elena Dementieva and Dinara Safina were also hustled out,
Lucie Safarova played the match of her life to shatter Mauresmo's title hopes in the fourth round with a 6-4, 6-3 win.
As the 19-year-old Czech sealed the defending champion's fate after 89 minutes and held her arms aloft to lap up the applause from the hollering fans, a forlorn Mauresmo was left to digest her worst showing in Australia since losing in the fourth round in 2001.
A stunned Safarova told the crowd: "It's amazing. I still can't believe it. I'm so happy. It's incredible.
"It's the first time I'm playing on Rod Laver Arena and in the morning I thought, 'Wow this is a big court'."
Shahar Peer continued a day of upsets by becoming the first Israeli woman to reach the quarter-finals of a grand slam when she humbled third seed Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-2.
Seventh seed Dementieva's fragile serve was again exposed during a 6-3, 6-3 defeat by Czech Nicole Vaidisova, who at 10th is now the highest seed left in the bottom half of the draw.
In the Czech camp, a triple celebration was being planned for after Safarova's boyfriend, 13th seed Tomas Berdych, humbled Russian Dmitry Tursunov 6-2, 6-1, 6-1 to reach the last 16.
Serena Williams continued her role of loose cannon in the women's draw by shocking in-form 11th seed Jelena Jankovic 6-3, 6-2.
The unseeded two-times former champion put on a formidable display of hitting and phenomenal chasing to overcome the fancied Serb in 83 minutes.
"I like being a dangerous floater," Serena, who is currently ranked 81st, told the crowd.
The 25-year-old American, champion in 2003 and 2005, will now play Peer for a place in the semifinals.
Sixth seed Andy Roddick ensured coach Jimmy Connors would not make a wasted trip by subduing the firepower of big-serving Croatian Mario Ancic 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 in the fourth round.
"I wasn't very comfortable there today ... I was lucky to get through," Roddick said.
The American romped through the first set in 27 minutes but Ancic, seeded ninth, hit back to break Roddick's mighty serve and level it.
Roddick, who beat former champion Marat Safin in the last round, kept his composure to break Ancic twice in the third set but the Croatian rallied in the fourth. The fifth set went with serve until the 22-year-old Ancic cracked to push Roddick 3-2 ahead and the former world No 1 stayed rock solid on his serve to close it out.Roddick, a semifinalist at Melbourne Park in 2003 and 2005, will play fellow-American Mardy Fish in the last eight.
But the day belonged to Safarova. For a woman ranked 70th in the world who had never before experienced the imposing surroundings of the Rod Laver Arena, Safarova initially seemed overawed and predictably fell 4-1 behind to Mauresmo.
With the first set nearly in her grasp, the second seed imploded and lost seven successive games as the left-handed Safarova sprayed a non-stop array of winners from the baseline.
The Frenchwoman had said before the start of the tournament: "I hope I'll be Super Woman in the next two weeks."
She could have done with some super powers as she just could not find an answer to Safarova's strokes.
The second set was almost a mirror image of the first, except it was Safarova who galloped to a 4-1 lead as Mauresmo struggled to stem the flow of errors.
Although Mauresmo claimed back one break, it was not enough to deny Safarova victory.
Li Na's record-breaking run on the circuit continued when she became the first Chinese player to reach the fourth round, upstaging Safina 6-2, 6-2. She will next run into three-times former champion Martina Hingis.
- REUTERS