Australia's Casey Dellacqua is out of the Australian Open, but she leaves the tournament with a new standing in the game - both in ranking and reputation.

The West Australian - who had been the last remaining Australian in the women's singles draw - was downed 7-6 (7-3) 6-1 by Serbian third seed Jelena Jankovic in their fourth round match in Rod Laver Arena.

It leaves Australia's top men's player Lleyton Hewitt as the only local hope left in singles.

Sunday night's defeat ended a giant-killing run for 22-year-old Dellacqua, after she knocked Swiss 15th seeded Patty Schnyder and 18th seeded Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo out of the tournament in the previous two rounds.

Those victories ensure she will climb into the mid-50s in the rankings, making her Australia's top-ranked woman and lifting her well above her previous career-high of 77.

They also meant she will take $85,625 in prizemoney from the tournament, as well as picking up a new sponsorship from department store chain Target along the way.

Dellacqua, who had never been past the first round of the Open in five previous attempts before this year, started tentatively.

While she had a break point in Jankovic's opening service game, she failed to convert it and was soon down 5-2, with the Serb serving for the first set.

But, as the West Australian showed in the first three rounds, when she came back from a set down to win on each occasion, adversity seems to bring out her best.

She lifted her game to break Jankovic for the first time in the match, then staved off a set point on her own serve, before producing a string of winners to again break Jankovic and level at 5-5.

Dellacqua lost her own serve in the following game to give the third seed another chance to serve for the set, but again she was able to break Jankovic's serve and force a tiebreak.

But the Serb quickly took control in the tiebreak, moving to a 6-3 lead and needing only one of her three set points to close it.

Jankovic was again down a break point in her opening service game in the second set, but again Dellacqua failed to convert.

It was a different story when Jankovic earned a break point on the Australian's opening service game.

Dellacqua succumbed to by netting a forehand, the shot that was her achilles heel on many crucial points throughout the match.

From there, Jankovic gradually built her control of the match, and after building a 4-1 lead raced through the final two games.

Jankovic, who will play defending champion Serena Williams in the quarter-finals, said it had been a tough match, both because of the crowd support for Dellacqua and the Australian's quality play.

"I was very nervous and playing an Aussie is very difficult obviously, because I have all of you (in the crowd) not on my side," she said.

"It was difficult and I was very nervous and I thought that Casey played very well.

"I want to congratulate her for a very good tournament, she has played very well, had a great run."

Jankovic predicted a difficult battle against Williams, who downed Czech 12th seed Nicole Vaidisova 6-3 6-4 earlier Sunday.

"It will be tough for sure, we've had some tough matches, I have beaten her a few times so we'll see," Jankovic said.

Dellacqua said she was disappointed to have let the second set slip away so quickly and had some clear areas she needed to improve in her game, particularly coping with the pace of shots players such as Jankovic produced.

But she said there were also plenty of positives she could take from the tournament, notably being able to qualify for more events because of her rankings boost and the knowledge she could compete with top players.

"I've achieved pretty much my goals that I'd set for the year in one tournament, I'll have to reassess," Dellacqua said.

She said the new feeling of having an entire nation supporting her was something she would treasure and she was proud of what she had accomplished.

"Definitely, I think I've come a long way and I have worked really really hard ... I've really pushed through this week and I've won some close matches and mentally made a lot of gains," Dellacqua said.

"Now my belief is right up there and I know I can compete with these girls."

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