Jankovic and Tipsarevic fight through at Wimbledon

LONDON, June 29 (Reuters) Jelena Jankovic and Janko Tipsarevic maintained a dream year for Serbian tennis today when they fought through to the fourth round at Wimbledon.

Jankovic, the women's third seed, covered every blade of grass on Court One before breaking the resistance of serial dream-wrecker Lucie Safarova 5-7 7-6 6-2.

On Centre Court where spectators were salivating at the prospect of world number one Roger Federer's later third round meeting with Marat Safin, the rugged Tipsarevic took everything fifth seed Fernando Gonzalez could throw at him to win 6-3 3-6 6-3 4-6 8-6.

Tipsarevic, ranked 64th in the world, has now surpassed his previous best at a grand slam.

While it was all perspiration and straining sinews on the main show courts, women's top seed Justine Henin made light work of Russian Elena Vesnina, winning 6-1 6-3 on Court Two.

The Belgium has reached the last 16 without losing a set but will probably be tested more by Swiss 15th seed Patty Schnyder, who scraped through against Ukraine's Alona Bondarenko.

Jankovic, whose title at the Birmingham warm-up tournament underlined her Wimbledon title credentials, found 20-year-old Safarova in inspired form in the best women's match of the championships by far.

A match full of lung-burning rallies, often from way outside the sidelines, numerous Hawkeye challenges, rain showers and injury time-outs was encapsulated in a 20-minute game midway through the second set.

Safarova had won the first set from 3-1 behind and when she held serve at 3-3 after a series of rallies that had both players gasping for breath it seemed she was favourite.

However Jankovic, a French Open semi-finalist, hung on for grim life, won the second set tiebreak and, after a rain break and treatment on a tight thigh muscle, raced away to victory.

''It was a big battle and at some point I was thinking 'My God is there any way out?''', the 22-year-old Jankovic said.

It all got too much for Australian Open runner-up Gonzalez whose hopes of snapping a run of frustrating third round exits here were shattered by the tattooed Tipsaravic.

The Chilean with the volcanic forehand was reduced to slamming his racket into the Wimbledon turf at times.

''Beauty Will Save the World'' it says on Tipsaravic's arm, and while his game is not as eyecatching as that of Gonzalez he has guts aplenty.

Gonzalez served for the match at 5-3 in the fifth and had a match point at 6-5 on his opponent's serve only to send a backhand spinning wide. Tipsaravic then broke in the next game and wrapped up one of the best wins of his career.

Tommy Haas, the 13th seed, also moved through by beating Dmitry Tursunov while Paul-Henri Mathieu, one of five French survivors, upset 15th seed Ivan Ljubicic.

REUTERS NY KP2345