Davenport loses to Bartoli in third round

By Claudia Parsons

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Local favorite Lindsay Davenport slipped out of the U.S. Open in the third round on Friday, outpaced and outplayed 6-1 7-6 by former Wimbledon runner-up Marion Bartoli.

In a match interrupted by rain, the former world number one and 1998 champion struggled to get a foothold against the French 12th seed and was plagued by double faults.

Davenport, a three-times grand slam champion who returned to action just three months after the birth of her son Jagger in June 2007, was roared on by the crowd packed into the Arthur Ashe Stadium court but Bartoli dominated the match.

She broke 23rd seed Davenport's serve in the fourth game before running away with the first set. Bartoli kept up the momentum by breaking again in the first game of the second.

Davenport, 32, clawed back to level the set at 5-5 but then threw away her service game with a string of double faults in what she said was "one of the worst games in my career."

"That was my second set to win really, once it gets to 5-5. I kind of let it slip away," she said. "It's a shame that I couldn't have turned it around a little bit better in my favor."

In the tiebreak, Davenport's serve let her down again and Bartoli clinched it 7-3.

"I gave myself a chance out there, but once my serve kind of left me, I felt like I didn't have a lot of confidence to go up after it and I think that translated into my groundies in the tiebreak," Davenport said.

"I just never felt comfortable out there," she told reporters. "I've never had I guess what they call the 'yips' on your serve," she said, joking that maybe it was "karma" coming back to her for making fun of others who suffered nerves.

Asked about her future, she said it was too early to talk about her plans beyond Saturday, when she will be playing doubles with Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia.

"I think it's tough to make any kind of decision in a rash moment, and there was no decision made before the tournament so I don't think it's time to make a certain statement now."

In the fourth round Bartoli will play Austrian 29th seed Sybille Bammer. "She played well at the Olympics, she played well here, so it's going to be a tough match definitely," Bartoli told reporters.

(Editing by Larry Fine)