Sharapova loses under lights for first time
The bottom half of the women’s bracket is as wide open as the upper deck at Citi Field.
Maria Sharapova, one of the few big names remaining there, bowed out Monday night in unimpressive fashion, leaving American and No. 14 Madison Keys as the highest seed left.
The 22nd seed in the midst of an injury-marred year, Sharapova had been playing well, winning her first three matches at the U.S. Open without dropping a set. But her play fell several levels on Labor Day in a dismal 6-4, 6-3 fourth-round loss to No. 30 Carla Suarez Navarro.
Navarro had struggled to reach the second week, twice dropping the opening set and going the distance in each of the first three rounds. On Monday, though, she cruised and got to celebrate her 30th birthday in style, by outsteadying the erratic Sharapova, continuing rallies until the Russian misfired. From her eight double-faults to her 38 unforced errors, Sharapova was shaky throughout the 1-hour and 31minute match.
“My opponent was different,” Sharapova said, when asked what changed between her first three matches and her fourth. “The conditions today I think suited her game a lot more than they suited my game. Part of that is I can also blame myself for not turning things around and not being quick enough to analyze that, to see that in the match, not being responsive enough.”
The defeat ended Sharapova’s nighttime dominance at the Open. It was the 2006 Open champion’s first loss under the lights in 24 matches, giving back Pete Sampras the record mark at 20-0.
Sharapova gift-wrapped the first set, committing 18 unforced errors, losing her serve four times in a row and winning just 11 of 27 points on it. Trailing 5-2, she rallied, reeling off two consecutive games and looked to be saving the set, up 30-love on Navarro’s serve. But Sharapova then committed four consecutive errors when it had appeared the Spaniard had gotten tight, enabling Navarro to take the opening set.
“I didn’t take care of the chances I had,” Sharapova said. “By ‘chances,’ I mean the balls that were a little bit shorter, I hesitated to move forward. The balls where I did attack, I made unforced errors.”