All England Club Taking Some Heat

Prominent Women Get Lesser Courts

WIMBLEDON, England, June 30 -- The exodus of top-seeded women continued at Wimbledon on Monday, as second-seeded Jelena Jankovic and fourth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova were ousted by a resolute Thai veteran and a spirited Polish teen.

But the upsets didn't raise nearly as many eyebrows as did the decision of tournament officials to relegate four-time and defending champion Venus Williams to the relative obscurity of Court 2 for her fourth-round match.

Venus's sister Serena, a two-time Wimbledon champion, was also assigned to the cramped confines of Court 2, which ranks a distant third among the All England club's venues in seating capacity and prestige.

Jankovic, the world's No. 2 player and highest remaining seed (until her loss Monday), was assigned to a 782-seat court so remote that the Serb likened it to a parking lot, complaining, "I almost need a helicopter to go to my court."

Meantime, five-time defending champion Roger Federer continued his five-year streak of appearing only on the choice real estate of Wimbledon's Centre Court, which seats 15,000, or its slightly smaller twin, the 11,393-seat Court 1.

While Jankovic questioned the assignments after her loss, calling it "wrong" to put Williams, the defending champion, on such an insignificant court, Venus demurred when asked how she felt about being sent to what is known as "the Graveyard of Champions" because of the numerous upsets Court 2 has seen.

"There's not too much I'm going to say about that," Venus said after advancing to the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Russian teen Alisa Kleybanova.

Serena was more bold after joining Venus in the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-3 defeat of Bethanie Mattek, the only remaining American not named Williams.

"I do think it's weird -- especially having a female champ who has won this tournament four times. I've only won twice," Serena added, with a wry smile. "But hey, that's not bad."

Oracine Price, the Williamses' mother, seemed stunned when informed that Federer, the Swiss champion, had not played a match on Court 2 since 2003. In that same period, Venus has played eight matches there.

"They always say it's the Graveyard Court," Price said. "But they put [Venus and Serena] on that court all the time, and they haven't died. So why do they keep doing it?"

Price was equally dismayed by Jankovic's treatment, calling Monday's assignments "really ridiculous."