JELENA Jankovic is not worried about the possibility of losing her No 1 ranking after crashing out of the Australian Open.

Jankovic was sent packing by Marion Bartoli in the fourth round in Melbourne, the 16th seed thrashing the top seed 6-1 6-4 to book a quarter- final tie with Vera Zvonareva.

Jankovic’s exit paves the way for the three players ranked immediately below her to take the top spot.

If any of Serena Williams, Dinara Safina or Elena Dementieva win the tournament they will leap to No 1.

But with Safina having fewer ranking points to defend, she has a chance to go top even if she only reaches the semi-finals. Williams and Dementieva must reach the final in order to stand a chance of becoming No 1.

Jankovic is unconcerned, saying: ‘‘It doesn’t matter because it’s just the beginning of the year and there are many more tournaments to play.

‘‘Maybe it will change but it’s not important what you do now, there’s the whole year ahead of us – a lot of tournaments, a lot of battles, so the best one will finish top. For me the most important thing is how you finish, not how you begin.’’ Jankovic certainly didn’t start her match in the Rod Laver Arena well, going 5-0 down before she survived two set points to get on the board.

It was a temporary stay of execution as Bartoli, the 16th seed, closed out the set in just 31 minutes.

The world No 1 improved in the second set, holding her serve in the first game, but she was broken again when she doubled faulted in the third.

Bartoli broke her again in the seventh game to take a 4- 3 lead, and although Jankovic broke back she could not hold her own serve.

Bartoli then had the chance to serve for the match, which she did.

‘‘Nobody likes to lose, today was a tough day for me,’’ admitted Jankovic. ‘‘I had a slow start and I let my opponent completely get on top of me and play her game.

‘‘But she was the better one, and all credit to her. She played really well, went for all her shots.’’ Bartoli, who has now beaten Jankovic in their last three encounters for a 4-3 lead in head-to-head meetings, said: ‘‘I was really confident because I played really well in my last match against Lucie Safarova.

‘‘I knew I could beat Jelena on a good day, it was just a matter of playing the right shot at the right time and not making too many mistakes.

‘‘I was not overwhelmed by the situation. I just went for my shots and everything went in. It was just a great match.’’ Jelena Dokic dug deep and overcame a twisted ankle to upset 29th seed Alisa Kleybanova 7-5 5-7 8-6 in a shade over three hours.

Dokic has been the story of the tournament so far after battling back from depression to reclaim her place in the hearts of her adopted nation.

Her every point was cheered and she implored to the crowd to get behind her when she began to tire against the hard-hitting Russian.

Dokic had the crowd on the edge of their seats when, with the Russian serving at 5-6 and 30-0, she slipped and twisted her left ankle.

But she held her serve to take a 7-6 lead before clinching victory with a fearsome backhand down the line.

‘‘To come after a three-year lay-off and to be in the quarter- finals of a grand slam straightaway really gives you a lot confidence,’’ she said after reaching the last eight of a grand slam for the first time since the 2002 French Open.

Dokic has been taken to three sets in all of her matches so far and admitted after such a long time away from competition it was beginning to take its toll.

‘‘I really struggled physically.

I was on my last reserves.

She really had me in that third set. To come out and pull it out was great.’’ Safina survived two match points on her way to a 6-2 2-6 7-5 win against Alize Cornet, earning a place in the quarterfinals in Melbourne for the first time.

The third seed was 5-2 down in the final set and defended two match points before closing out the win against Cornet, the 15th seed from France, who she beat in straight sets in the quarter-finals of the Open warm-up tournament in Sydney.

Seventh seed Vera Zvonareva will play Bartoli in the quarter-finals after defeating fellow Russian Nadia Petrova 7-5 6-4.

Zvonereva squandered six break point opportunities in the first game, which lasted ten minutes, but got the advantage in the third and held to take a 3-1 lead.

But at 4-2 down Petrova won the next three games before Zvonereva held her serve and broke her opponent again to take the set 7-5.