Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic reacts as she defeats defending champion Amelie Mauresmo of France in their match on the Centre Court at Wimbledon yesterday. - AP

WIMBLEDON, England (AP):

DEFENDING CHAMPION Amelie Mauresmo lost in the fourth round at Wimbledon yesterday, struggling with her serve and falling to Nicole Vaidisova 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-1 as rain again wreaked havoc at the All England Club.

This year's tournament has been hampered by rain in seven of its first eight days.

Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams played only three points before lightning and thunder were followed by heavy rain, one of four matches suspended for the day. Only seven singles matches were completed yesterday.

Earlier, Mauresmo had 14 double-faults and 37 unforced errors in a match stopped by rain three times.

"Definitely those interruptions don't help," the two-time major champion said. "I don't know how many (double-faults) I had today, but definitely too many ... I don't know if it was her or me."

Number three Jelena Jankovic also was upset, playing through four rain delays and losing to No. 18 Marion Bartoli of France 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.

Play on Centre Court and Court Number One started at 11:00 a.m. yesterday - two hours earlier than usual - because of the backlog of matches.

In the third round of the men's draw, 2002 Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt beat Guillermo Canas 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, and Nikolay Davydenko advanced by defeating Gael Monfils 6-3, 7-5, 6-3.

"That's the longest and toughest rain-delayed match I've ever had to put up," said Hewitt, who was originally scheduled to play Canas on Saturday.

Juan Carlos Ferrero, the 2003 French Open champion, reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the first time by beating Janko Tipsarevic 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (5) and will next face four-time defending champion Roger Federer.

Mauresmo held three set points against Vaidisova when she led 6-3 in the tiebreaker, but then lost the next five points.

After winning the second set, she fell behind 3-0 in the third and was broken again inthe sixth game, allowing the 18-year-old Czech to serve out the match.

Vaidisova will play number six Ana Ivanovic in the quarter-finals. The Serb held on to beat Nadia Petrova 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 in a match interrupted by rain four times.