Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl

Defending champion Serena Williams was eliminated in the fourth round of Wimbledon on Monday, losing to 2007 finalist Marion Bartoli 6-3, 7-6 (6).

Williams is a four-time champion at the All England Club, but she missed nearly a year after foot surgery and subsequent blood clots in her lungs. She returned two weeks ago at Eastbourne for the first time since winning the Wimbledon title in 2010.

Williams saved three match points at 6-5 in the second set and another in the tiebreaker before Bartoli put down a service winner to advance.

Bartoli lost to Venus Williams in the 2007 final.

Earlier Monday, fourth-seeded Victoria Azarenka and No. 5 seed Maria Sharapova advanced to the quarterfinals with wins.

Azarenka became the first player to reach the quarterfinals, beating Nadia Petrova 6-2, 6-2.

The Belarusian equaled her previous best performance at the All England Club, where she made it to the quarters in 2009 before losing to Serena Williams.

Azarenka will next face Tamira Paszek of Austria or Ksenia Pervak of Russia.

Sharapova advanced by beating Peng Shuai of China 6-4, 6-2.

The fifth-seeded Russian, who won the 2004 title at the All England Club, broke for the first time to take a 5-4 lead in the first set Monday. From that break, she won seven straight games to take control.

Sharapova has also won the U.S. Open and Australian Open, but has only recently returned to top form after shoulder surgery in 2008.

“Last year I lost in the fourth round to Serena and this year I find myself in the quarterfinals and I’m giving myself an opportunity to go even in further so I’m quite happy about that,” Sharapova said. “I have to be a little realistic about the fact that I haven’t gotten past the fourth round in a few years. This is a step forward.”

Sharapova will next face either top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki or Dominika Cibulkova.

–ESPN