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Sports / Tennis
Teenager stuns Sharapova as Federer tames Isner
(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-09-03 10:57
NEW YORK - The US Open lost one of its top attractions when holder Maria
Sharapova was beaten 6-4 1-6 6-2 by Polish teenager Agnieszka Radwanska
in the third round on Saturday.
Sharapova lost only two games during her first two matches at the
tournament but never got on track against 18-year-old Radwanska,
committing an uncharacteristic 49 unforced errors.
Maria Sharapova of Russia reacts during her loss to Agnieszka Radwanska
of Poland during their match at the U.S. Open tennis tournament in
Flushing Meadows, New York, September 1, 2007. [AP]?
"You've got to give her a lot of credit for finishing the match and
winning it," the second-seeded Sharapova told reporters.
"A lot of girls in her position on a big stage in a big stadium against a
top player sometimes get a little nervous."
Roger Federer, aiming for a fourth consecutive US Open title, defeated
hard-hitting rookie John Isner 6-7 6-2 6-4 6-2.
Federer had only 11 unforced errors against the American wildcard who has
been impressive since joining the tour in July.
"It's so hard to play against players like him, you just hope he's not
going to keep serving aces," said Federer, who watched nine of Isner's 18
aces fly by in the opening frame.
"It was unbelievable how he served in the first set. But I started to get
a read of it a bit in the second and third."
Russian fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko reached the fourth round with a 7-5
6-0 7-5 victory over Spaniard Nicolas Almagro, while number five and 2003
champion Andy Roddick blasted 19 aces to defeat Sweden's Thomas Johansson
6-2 6-2 6-0.
Sixth-seeded American James Blake also advanced beating Austrian Stefan
Koubek 6-4 3-6 7-6 6-1 to end Day Six of the tournament at Arthur Ashe
Stadium.
On the women's side, number seven seed Nadia Petrova of Russia committed
29 errors during a 6-4 6-4 upset loss to 18-year-old Hungarian Agnes
Szavay.
Fourth-seeded former champion Svetlana Kuznetsova and sixth seed Anna
Chakvetadze kept Russia's title hopes alive. Kuznetsova beat Spain's
Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-3 6-1, and Chakvetadze defeated Sania Mirza of
India 6-2 6-3.
Martina Hingis's 10-year anniversary since winning the US Open ended in
disappointment when she lost to Belarusian Victoria Azarenka 3-6 6-1 6-0
in a third-round match.
Another favorite to fall was 13th seed Nicole Vaidisova of Czech
Republic, a 6-4 3-6 7-6 loser to Israeli Shahar Peer in the first women's
match of the tournament to be decided in a third-set tiebreaker.
But the buzz around the National Tennis Center was the unexpected defeat
of Sharapova, her earliest grand slam exit since losing in the third
round at Flushing Meadows in 2004.
Sharapova produced 12 double-faults, unable to cope with swirling winds
in Arthur Ashe Stadium. With her tournament life on the line in the final
set, the Russian made 20 errors.
"There's no excuses," said Sharapova. "It's not like today I stepped out
on the wrong side of the bed or I did something differently.
"I'm going to have these types of days where I might be up a break in the
third set but it just doesn't go my way."
The 30th-seeded Radwanska served just two double faults but landed only
57 percent of her first serves. She conceded that many of her key points
were gifts from Sharapova.
"I had problems with my serve but I think she made many mistakes and
double faults so I think she was a little bit nervous," said the
18-yer-old Radwanska.
Radwanska had lost eight consecutive games when she fell behind in the
final set 2-0. But she rebounded with a six-game streak of her own to
close out the two-hour, four-minute match and set up a round-of-16 tilt
against Peer.
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