'I could sit here and blame the wind and blame my opponent. But there are no excuses. I'm not going to throw myself a pity party here.'
MARIA SHARAOPVA (above), who was beaten 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 by Polish teen Agnieszka Raadwanska. -- PHOTOS: AFP, REUTERS |
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NEW YORK - BOTHERED by swirling gusts and a teenager's surprising verve, Maria Sharapova was completely lost.
Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland pulled off a stunning upset, beating the defending US Open champion 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 in a third-round match on Saturday.
Sharapova seemed to take control by winning eight games in a row, giving her a 2-0 lead in the final set. Then, she fell apart, and dropped the last six games.
Her father could barely watch, moving from his front-row perch to a seat farther back during the final points.
'I could sit here and blame the wind and blame my opponent. But there are no excuses,' Sharapova said. 'I'm not going to throw myself a pity party here.'
The 30th-ranked Radwanska played with poise, creeping closer and closer to the service box on second serves, hoping to unnerve the two-time Grand Slam winner.
At times, the 18-year-old walked nearly halfway from the baseline to the net as Sharapova got ready, then backed off at the last second. It was a shrewd move.
'I knew that she hates it if somebody is moving on the serve,' Radwanska said, her braces gleaming in the sunlight. 'She made many mistakes.'
Agnes Szavay struck another blow for the youth movement on Saturday. The 18-year-old Hungarian dismissed seventh seed Nadia Petrova of Russia 6-4, 6-4 to book her place in the fourth round.
Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, an 18-year-old who partnered Szavay to a pair of Grand Slam junior titles, added her name to the US Open winners' list with a 3-6, 6-1 6-0 victory over 16th seed Martina Hingis, who won the US Open 10 years ago.
There was one minor upset in the men's singles, where No 19 Andy Murray lost to 43rd-ranked South Korean Lee Hyung Taik 3-6, 3-6, 6-2, 5-7.
Top-seeded Roger Federer lost a set for the first time in three matches, but prevailed against the hard-serving American wild-card entrant John Isner, 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-4, 6-2.
Isner had 18 aces, nine coming in the first set, but Federer seemed invigorated by the challenge.
'Yeah, I enjoyed it actually, believe it or not,' he said, 'because of the challenge of the serve. I love playing guys like this.
'You don't get to play big servers like this today, every day. I've played the kick servers, the guy who just keeps it to my backhand all day.'
Fifth-seeded Andy Roddick breezed through, beating 2002 Australia Open champion Thomas Johansson of Sweden 6-3, 6-2, 6-0.
'I've got to try to find myself a hot date later, so I tried to get off the court a little faster,' said Roddick, who has been linked to Sharapova in the past.
Sharapova's serve was her undoing. She won only 23 per cent of her second-serve points, and hurt herself with 12 double-faults.
The 1.88m Sharapova's high toss is particularly affected by gusts of wind. She frequently stood still, waiting for the wind to subside.
Playing in the glare of a morning match, Sharapova put on a sun visor early. Dressed in white instead of her power-red night outfit, she finished with 49 unforced errors. She had only 25 in losing a total of two games in her first two matches.
Sharapova seemed in charge after she bounced back in the second set, and started fast in the next one. But she was unhappy she did not carry on that way.
'You'd think I would have the momentum,' she said.
Radwanska's lone singles title came in Stockholm this year, and she said her favourite surfaces are grass and clay, rather than the hard courts at Flushing Meadows.
Now into the fourth round at the US Open, she planned to meet her sister - also a tennis professional - and celebrate like a giddy teen.
They went shopping at Louis Vuitton, before thinking about tennis.
'I'm not favoured here,' she said. 'I have no idea who I'm playing next.'
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MOVING ON
'I could sit here and blame the wind and blame my opponent. But there are no excuses. I'm not going to throw myself a pity party here.'
MARIA SHARAPOVA, who was beaten 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 by Polish teen Agnieszka Radwanska
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