Williams sisters knocked out in fourth round

WIMBLEDON, England (AP):

Venus and Serena Williams were both eliminated in the fourth round of Wimbledon yesterday, the first time in five years that neither sister will play in the quarter-finals at the All England Club.

Defending champion and four-time winner Serena was the first to go, beaten 6-3, 7-6 (6) by Marion Bartoli of France, cutting short the American's return to Grand Slam tennis after nearly a year out with serious health problems.

Older sister and five-time champion Venus was ousted 6-2, 6-3 by Tsvetana Pironkova - the exact same score of the Bulgarian's win in last year's quarter-finals.

"Definitely not our best day," Venus said. "I think we both envisioned seeing this day going a little bit different."

Also knocked out was top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki, who fell 1-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5 to No. 24 Dominika Cibulkova in the Dane's latest failed attempt to win her first Grand Slam title.

Six-time men's champion Roger Federer survived a scare, dropping his first set of the tournament before coming back to down Mikhail Youzhny 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 to reach his 29th successive Grand Slam quarter-final. Extending his career record against the Russian to 11-0, Federer had 54 winners, including 14 aces and broke five times.

"I forgot completely (the 29th quarter-final) was on the line, to be quite honest, especially once you're in the heat of the moment, of the battle," said Federer, who also won his 100th match on grass. "I thought I played a good match overall."

Federer will next face No. 12 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, who beat No. 7 David Ferrer 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (1).

Venus and Serena have won nine of the last 11 titles at Wimbledon and have faced each other in four finals.

In 2006, Venus lost in the third round and Serena missed the tournament. This is the first year that, when both sisters were in the draw, both lost before the quarter-finals.

The last time the sisters lost on the same day at a Grand Slam was in 2008, when they fell in the third round at the French Open.

"Obviously it's not something planned," Venus said. "We rarely lose on the same day."

With 2004 champion Maria Sharapova of Russia among those advancing yesterday, it marks the first time since 1913 that all eight women's Wimbledon quarter-finalists are from Europe. On top of that, all eight come from different countries.

In men's play, second-seeded Novak Djokovic kept up his bid for a first Wimbledon title by beating Michael Llodra of France 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. The two-time Australian Open champion, who can replace Rafael Nadal as the top-ranked man in the world by reaching the final, lost in the semi-finals last year.

Djokovic will next face Australian qualifier Bernard Tomic, who downed Xavier Malisse 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 to become the youngest man to make the Wimbledon quarterfinals since Boris Becker in 1986.