Jankovic Wilts As Fans Wait For Murray

Jelena Jankovic's challenge melted away in soaring temperatures at Wimbledon on Saturday while Andy Murray fans tried to stay cool as they waited for their hero's prime time appearance on Centre Court.

Before attention turned to Murray's bid to become Britain's first men's singles champion in 73 years, spectators flocking into the grounds saw Serbia's sixth seed looking dazed and confused as she repeatedly called for medical attention.

It was all too much for ex-world number one Jankovic who was stifled 6-7 7-5 6-2 in the third round by 124th-ranked teenage American qualifier Melanie Oudin on a roasting Court Three.

Blaming her plight on "some woman problems", Jankovic added: "I was like a ghost... I didn't know where I was. I felt really dizzy and I thought that I was gonna end up in the hospital. I started to shake. I was losing my consciousness.

"It's not easy being a woman sometimes," she said.

Her compatriot Ana Ivanovic and five-times champion Venus Williams faced no such problems.

However, Ivanovic wisely opted not to spend too much time topping up her tan on Court Two as she hurried past Australian Samantha Stosur 7-5 6-2 in just 70 minutes to reach the last 16.

Next up for the 13th seed is world number three Williams.

"It's going to be a huge challenge. I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to play her because in my first match I was half gone," Ivanovic, cheered on by Australian golfer Adam Scott, said referring to her opening win from match points down.

FLORIDA HEAT

She cannot afford any lapses on Monday as American Williams chalked up her 17th successive win at the grasscourt major with a 6-0 6-4 walloping of Carla Suarez Navarro and then declared the weather was not hot enough for "a Florida girl".

"You don't understand the heat in Florida. I needed a sweater out there," grinned the third seed.

Lleyton Hewitt might also have found the weather fairly mild as he is more used to the 40 degree temperatures in Australia.

That did not stop him turning on the heat on German Philipp Petzschner with a 7-5 7-6 6-3 victory.

Another former champion, Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo, overcame Italian 15th seed Flavia Pennetta 7-5 6-3.

Twelfth seed Nikolay Davydenko joined Jankovic at the exit door after being outclassed 6-2 6-3 6-2 by Czech Tomas Berdych.

Germany's Tommy Haas, stranded at 6-6 in the fifth set overnight, needed to toil in the sun for another six games on Saturday before completing a 7-5 7-5 1-6 6-7 10-8 win over Croatian 11th seed Marin Cilic.

"It has never happened to me that we stopped playing at six-all in the fifth," said Haas, whose match was suspended in near-darkness at 2133 local time (2033 GMT) on Friday.

"We should have a tiebreak at six-all like in the U.S. Open. When you've played so much tennis... it's really draining."

As the temperature edged above 28 degrees Celsius many people struggled to cope with the stifling heat.

While players wrapped ice packs around their necks to stay cool, spectators used everything from tickets to programmes to fan themselves with some even fainting under the blazing sun.

With six days of mostly unbroken sunshine at this year's championships, it was little surprise hats and visors were flying off the shelves at the official Wimbledon shop and the demand for umbrellas was almost non-existent.

RECORD CROWDS

While the rest of the world is counting pennies and struggling to find ways to beat the credit crunch, global political leaders could learn a lesson or two from those who run the grasscourt championships.

In this corner of England, the mantra seems to be "Recession, what recession?" as record crowds continue to turn up at this year's tournament.

Over the first five days, 222,832 people had attended the tournament, an increase of 21,446 from 2008.

Those who walk into the grounds are also splurging in the souvenir shops, with Wimbledon's official jewellery range a surprise hit despite items being priced from 45 to 495 pounds ($95 to $820).

"Despite the credit crunch, we've had a 35 percent increase in sales from 2008 and that has been a surprise," a Wimbledon official told Reuters.

But business is likely to slow down later on Saturday when Murray takes on Serbian Victor Troicki.