Teenager stuns Sharapova at Open

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 Open but never got on track against 18-year-old Radwanska, committing an uncharacteristic 49 unforced errors. Roger Federer, aiming for a fourth straight 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.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.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.Sixth seed Anna Chakvetadze kept Russia’s title hopes alive, however, beating 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 Belarussian Victoria Azarenka 3-6 6-1 6-0 in a third-round match.Another favourite 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 Centre 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.The 30th-seeded Radwanska served just two double faults but landed only 57 per cent of her first serves.She conceded that many of her key points were gifts from Sharapova.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.Nampa-ReutersRoger Federer, aiming for a fourth straight 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.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.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.Sixth seed Anna Chakvetadze kept Russia’s title hopes alive, however, beating 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 Belarussian Victoria Azarenka 3-6 6-1 6-0 in a third-round match.Another favourite 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 Centre 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.The 30th-seeded Radwanska served just two double faults but landed only 57 per cent of her first serves.She conceded that many of her key points were gifts from Sharapova.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.Nampa-Reuters