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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, June 3, 2008

No. 1 Sharapova falls apart against Safina at French Open

By Howard Fendrich
Associated Press

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Dinara Safina ousted Maria Sharapova in the fourth round.

LAURENT BAHEUX | Associated Press

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Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Maria Sharapova

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PARIS — Maria Sharapova did not go quietly.

No, her departure from the French Open was filled with sound and fury: her stroke-accompanying shrieks, her self-loathing shouts between points and the spectators' hearty boos and high-pitched whistles that ushered the No. 1-seeded woman to the exit.

One point from reaching the quarterfinals at the only Grand Slam tournament she's never won, Sharapova allowed every bit of a significant lead slip away yesterday and collapsed to a 6-7 (6), 7-6 (5), 6-2 defeat against No. 13 Dinara Safina.

"Oh, I was angry," Sharapova said. "I was angry for making unforced errors, for not taking some of those balls and just ripping them."

Her fourth-round departure was the most startling development on a day that included this footnote: The last U.S. man or woman playing singles at Roland Garros, 88th-ranked Robby Ginepri, was eliminated, 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-1, by No. 24 Fernando Gonzalez of Chile.

"A five-hour 'grindfest' would have favored me a little bit more," said Ginepri, 0-5 at the French Open before this year. "I tried to end the points too quickly."

Gonzalez now faces No. 1 Roger Federer in the quarterfinals in a rematch of the 2007 Australian Open final that Federer won for one of his 12 Grand Slam titles. No. 5 David Ferrer will meet Gael Monfils in another quarterfinal.

Rounding out the rough showing for Americans in Paris, the top-seeded men's doubles team of twins Bob and Mike Bryan was upset by Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay and Luis Horna of Peru, 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (1), in a quarterfinal.

Sharapova led 5-2 in the second set, and went up 40-30 while serving for the match at 5-3. But Safina erased that chance with a backhand winner, and eventually broke when Sharapova missed a forehand. In the ensuing tiebreaker, Sharapova took a 5-2 lead, but Safina claimed five straight points.

"It can go in the wrong direction really fast," Sharapova said. "It just started going that way."

Until now, Safina was best known for being the kid sister of Marat Safin, who won the 2000 U.S. Open and 2005 Australian Open. She shares his broad shoulders and short temper, but thus far had not displayed quite as much talent or taste for the big stage, never advancing beyond the quarterfinals at a major.

Safina now faces No. 7 Elena Dementieva, the 2004 French Open finalist who beat No. 11 Vera Zvonareva, 6-4, 1-6, 6-2, in another all-Russian match yesterday.

Two other women's matches were suspended because of darkness. No. 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2004 U.S. Open champion, led No. 16 Victoria Azarenka, 6-2, 2-2, while Petra Kvitova and Kaia Kanepi, two unseeded players, split two sets.

For Sharapova, things really began to fall apart when she served while trailing 3-2 in the third set.

At 15-love, Safina's forehand landed near a line, and Sharapova missed a backhand. Sharapova asked the chair umpire to check the mark from Safina's shot, drawing scattered noise from the crowd, and the call stood.

On the next point, Sharapova botched a sitter and put a forehand into the net — drawing cheers, generally considered a breach of etiquette among tennis spectators.

As play proceeded, her yells became louder and louder as she berated herself, at least once with colorful language.

Safina collected 10 of the final 12 points — including Sharapova's seventh double-fault of the match, 43rd of the tournament.

When it ended, Safina dropped to her knees to celebrate. Sharapova quickly collected her things and left without acknowledging the fans who jeered her on the way out.