Zheng flies as Ivanovic wilts under weight of title burden

There was no net cord to save her this time. Ana Ivanovic's winning drive might have toppled over to save her in the second round but her luck ran out yesterday evening as the relentless tenacity of Zheng Jie put the No 1 seed out of the tournament 6-1, 6-4 and delivered the biggest of this first week's many upsets.

It was a shock that the world's No 1, whose ability at the tender age of 20 to follow up a French Open win with the Wimbledon title had looked in considerable doubt all week, is out before the first week is over. But the most extraordinary aspect of the events which played out on Court One yesterday was the nationality of the victor.

China was a nation of no tennis pedigree five years ago, but in its fierce effort to take medals at the forthcoming Olympics it has prepared a raft of talented players, among whom Zheng follows the gifted Li Na. Historic Grand Slam doubles titles, at Wimbledon and Australia, resulted two years ago, with Zheng in the pair. But a singles success like this is a new step on the nation's mission to arrive on the world tennis scene.

Ivanovic stifled tears of frustration and despair at the umpire's chair as she took in the enormity of what had just happened but the tennis analysis is quite simple. A woman who stands just 5ft 4in in stature – a full seven inches shorter than the Serb – had just delivered a barrage of drilled ground shots, fizzing extraordinarily low over the net, which she simply could not contend with.

At first Ivanovic's approach was tentative and tight. Then, as she strove to find answers to the battery sent over the net to her, she overshot. Ivanovic, an individual who likes to study psychological aspects of the game, also accepted the deeper reason for her defeat: that she is struggling to adapt to the mantle of world No 1 which has thrust open so suddenly.

"Sometimes you have to stop and take some time and realise you're doing well and take a pat on the back," she said last night. "Sometimes you get lost in that. You're tired and emotional and you don't know why." Novak Djokovic made precisely the same observation after his departure in this rather desperate week for Serbia.

But this story also belongs to Zheng, who demonstrated in the way she put Briton Elena Baltacha out of the tournament two days ago that she is a forbidding groundstroke player. The 24-year-old, who is No 133 in the world, could scarcely believe what had unfolded. "It's a great surprise for me," she said. "Last year I had an injury and I'm just discovering that I like to play on grass. I'm just surprised I won the match."

Zheng's strategy had been to play to Ivanovic's weaker backhand and Ivanovic showed, as in her second service game when a double-fault saw her broken for the first time, that she was in trouble.

The 20-year-old had the opportunity to break back quickly, but her game was already proving far too inconsistent to take advantage of the few chances Zheng was giving her. After wasting the opportunity to reduce the deficit to 2-3, she quickly found herself 1-5 down after some big Zheng forehands ripped her service to shreds. Again, she had opportunities to reply but wasted four break points in the next game before Zheng wrapped up the set.

The barrage from Zheng continued in the second set and Ivanovic was visibly straining to make an impact. At 2-2 and break point for Zheng, she delivered an extraordinary, high-risk second serve right on the service line. It worked. But when a second break point arrived in the same game, Zheng stepped to the point of no return.

Her service might have far been less forbidding than Ivanovic – just 57 per cent of first serves reached court, compared with the No 1 seed's 86 per cent – but that made no difference with the ground shots she had on offer. She created twice the number of unforced errors from her opponent that she conceded herself.

Zheng, who now faces the No 15 seed, Hungarian Agnes Szavay, will believe she can deliver China even greater riches ahead of the Beijing Olympics. The absence of Maria Sharapova will encourage that sense. Ivanovic will leave Wimbledon to grow accustomed to the challenges of being best in the world.

"It's been an all new situation here," she said. "It was very, very emotional [winning in France] and the last couple of weeks took a little bit out of me. I couldn't have the preparation I wanted as I had to take some time off. It's tough and it's never easy to lose. From the first match here I tried to find my game.

"I've learnt that everyone is going to be so bound against you. The others have had nothing to lose [against me] and played some of their best tennis.

"It takes time especially after winning on clay. You need to adjust to the grass and accept that every shot you hit isn't going to be perfect. That's something I found hard to deal with. On clay if you are struggling a little, you have time to get into the game."

The Zheng essentials

Born: 5 Aug 1983, Chengdu

Total career prize money: £912,276

2003: Turned professional

2005: Wins first career title, in Hobart

200:6 Mixed doubles runner-up at Wimbledon; wins women's doubles

Career titles: 2005 Moorilla Hobart International.

2006: Estoril Open. 2006: Nordea Nordic Light Open

Doubles titles: Has won 11 with compatriot Yan Zi.

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