Sharapova among Monday’s losers
Federer also eliminated in stunning upset, preventing quarterfinal versus Djokovic
NEW YORK — Maria Sharapova won the U.S. Open as a teenager. More than a decade later, she can’t seem to make it past the fourth round.
In a mistake-filled performance, Sharapova lost a night match at Flushing Meadows for the first time in her lengthy career, beaten 6-4, 6-3 by No. 30 seed Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain on Monday.
It’s the third consecutive appearance that ended one step short of the quarterfinals for the 31-year-old Sharapova, who had been 22-0 under the lights at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Sharapova collected the trophy in New York at age 19 in 2006 and owns a total of five Grand Slam titles, but the Russian was far shakier during this match than Suarez Navarro, who never has made it past the quarterfinals at a major.
The Spaniard will be at that stage for the second time at the U.S. Open — five years after her other run to that round.
On Wednesday, Suarez Navarro will face 2017 runner-up Madison Keys of the United States. Keys advanced by beating No. 29 Dominika Cibulkova 6-1, 6-3.
Since her championship, Sharapova has only once made it to the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open — in 2012, when she lost in the semifinals. Since then, the best she’s done are fourth-round exits in 2014, 2017 and 2018.
Suarez Navarro let the 22nd-seeded Sharapova create her own problems. While both women finished with 15 winners, Sharapova had nearly twice as many unforced errors as Suarez Navarro, 38-20, in the defeat.
Meanwhile, in the men’s draw, Roger Federer was stunned in the fourth round by 55th-ranked John Millman of Australia 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (3).
It’s the first time in Federer’s career that he has lost to a man ranked outside the top 50 at Flushing Meadows. The 20-time Grand Slam champ double-faulted 10 times, including twice in a row during the final tiebreaker.
Federer certainly had his chances to take control of the match, including two set points at 5-4, 40-15 in the second. He also blew a set point in the third.
Federer won the opening set 6-3 on a humid night in Arthur Ashe Stadium, but he failed to close out either of the next two, which Millman took 7-5, 7-6 (7).
Millman will face Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals. Djokovic advanced with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 victory over 68th-ranked Joao Sousa of Portugal earlier Monday.