Fortune frowns on unlucky Dechy

By Pritha Sarkar

LONDON (Reuters) - It was a case of so near yet so far for Nathalie Dechy on Wednesday.

The Frenchwoman came within a point of dumping world number one Ana Ivanovic out of Wimbledon in the second round but found the gods were not on her side.

Leading 7-6 5-4, Dechy came to the brink of pulling off the biggest upset at this year's tournament when she earned two match points on Ivanovic's serve.

While Ivanovic punched away a winner to save the first, the net came to the Serbian top seed's aid on the second.

After Ivanovic has slapped a ferocious groundstroke, the ball rolled along the top of the net and then, after two agonising seconds, crept over.

"During one second I thought I won because the ball stayed on the net for just a tiny bit," the 97th-ranked Dechy said after she was beaten 6-7 7-6 10-8.

"Then I didn't see clearly if it was going on my side or on her side. Then I saw.

"I was like, 'Gee, there's maybe somebody in the sky who helped her on that one'.