Marion Bartoli after winning her match against Jelena Jankovic in Wimbledon on Tuesday. (Reuters)

Wimbledon: Defending champion Amelie Mauresmo lost in the fourth round at Wimbledon on Tuesday, struggling with her serve throughout and falling to Nicole Vaidisova 7-6 (8-6), 4-6, 6-1 in a match interrupted by rain three times.

Mauresmo, who won her first two Grand Slam titles last year, had 14 double-faults and 37 unforced errors.

“I don’t know how many I had today, but definitely too many,” Mauresmo said. “I don’t know if it was her or me.”

The fourth-seeded Mauresmo held three set points when she led 6-3 in the tie-breaker but then lost the next five points. After winning the second set, she fell behind 0-3 in the third and was broken again in the sixth game, allowing the 18-year-old Vaidisova to serve out the match.

A mistiming serve cost third seed Jelena Jankovic a place in the quarter finals when Marion Bartoli of France beat her 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 in a match that was interrupted four times by rain.

The 22-year-old Serb, one of the most consistent players this year, had trouble holding serve throughout the stop-start match and also seemed to struggle at the net.

The Frenchwoman’s groundstrokes seemed to gain power in the third set, while Jankovic missed some easy smashes and lacked conviction at the net. Bartoli’s next opponent will be Michaella Krajicek of The Netherlands.

Also, 2004 US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova reached the quarter finals by ousting 16-year-old Tamira Paszek of Austria 6-3, 6-2.

“I put in more and more pressure on her,” Kuznetsova said. “She was playing worse, worse, worse.”

Mauresmo double-faulted twice in the sixth game of the final set to give Vaidisova a break point. She then sent a backhand drop shot into the net, and netted a volley on the first point of the next game.

She then hit a ball into the crowd in frustration and was given a warning by the umpire. After the match, Mauresmo walked off Centre Court without acknowledging the crowd.

Vaidisova reached the quarter finals for the first time at the All England Club. The No. 14-seeded Czech reached the semi-finals at last year’s French Open and this year’s Australian Open.

“She’s got some maturity on the court. She’s showing she can go for shots at the right time,” Mauresmo said. “She’s been close already.”

Vaidisova will play sixth-seeded Serbian Ana Ivanovic, who kept her wits about her through four rain disruptions to reach the quarter finals for the first time with a 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 win over Russian Nadia Petrova.

This year’s tournament has been hampered by rain in seven of its first eight days.

On the men’s side, 2003 French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero reached the quarter finals for the first time, beating Janko Tipsarevic 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (5).

Sixteen-seeded Australian Lleyton Hewitt also moved into the quarter finals, beating No.22 Guillermo Canas of Argentina 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

In women’s doubles, India’s Sania Mirza and Shahar Peer of Israel eased into the third round with a straight-set win over Agnes Szavay of Hungary and Vladimira Uhlirova of Czech Republic.

The Indo-Israeli pair, who were a set ahead when play was suspended owing to rain on Monday, came through 6-4, 6-3.

They face top seeds Lisa Raymond of the US and Samantha Stosur of Australia.

WOMEN’S QUARTERS LINE-UP

Justine Henin (1,Bel) vs Serena Williams (7, US)

Marion Bartoli (18, Fra) vs Michaella Krajicek (31, Ned)

Ana Ivanovic (6, Srb) vs Nicole Vaidisova (14, Cze)

Svetlana Kuznetsova (5, Rus) vs Venus Williams (23, US)/Maria Sharapova (2, Rus)