New York--(lawntennismag.com) Second seeded and defending champion Maria Sharapova of Russia
suffered a major defeat Saturday in an up and down third round match at the US Open as she lost to 30th seeded teenager Agnieszka Radwanska of
Poland 6-4, 1-6, 6-2. Sharapova encountered difficulties with the wind and the consistent play from her opponent versus her own errors.
The 18 year old Radwanska had last fall defeated Wimbledon champion Venus Williams 6-3, 6-0 in Williams' last match of 2006 due to wrist injury.
In the match Williams had resorted to hitting one-handed backhands to protect her injured left wrist.
Sharapova had beaten Radwanska 6-2, 3-6, 6-0 when she last played her in the spring of this year at Istanbul but today the teenager turned
in a much better third set preformance. In set one Sharapova went down a break and dropped the set before winning eight games in a row to win set
two and go ahead 2-0 in set three.
In the final set Sharapova doublefaulted several times and hit wild forehands to aid Radwanska for the win. Sharapova finished the match with
12 doublefaults and 49 unforced errors.
"You've got to give her a lot of credit for finishing the match and winning it," Sharapova said. "A lot of girls
in her position on a big stage in a big stadium against a top player sometimes get a little nervous."
Radwanska after the match said she planned to reward herself with a handbag. "Yesterday I spoke with my sister and said if I will beat (Sharapova),
we will buy two Louis Vuitton bags, because is so expensive," Radwanska said. "She said, 'If you do it, OK.' Then she came into the locker room and
said, 'OK, now we're going to Louis Vuitton and buying two bags.' "
