Agnieszka Radwanska Stuns Defending Champion Maria Sharapova at the 2007 US Open
Posted by Aaress Lawless on Sep 1, 2007 | Print |
For the first time in over twenty-five years, the second seed at the US Open has been upset before reaching the fourth round.
Thirtieth seed Agnieszka Radwanska earned her place in the record books today by knocking second seed and defending champion Maria Sharapova out of the 2007 US Open in the third round with a thrilling 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 defeat.
Sharapova had the advantage of a relatively easy draw, with the knowledge that she could only face Justine Henin, Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic, and the Williams sisters in the final.
What she did not take in account was the feisty game of Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska.
The eighteen year-old from Krakow brought her best tennis to Arthur Ashe Stadium today and except for a lapse in the second set, completely outplayed the 2006 champion.
The biggest liability in Maria Sharapova’s game is her serve, which has hampered her performance for most of the season. Changing her service motion helped her to her first (and only) title of 2007 at the Acura Classic, but today against Radwanska, it failed her completely.
She gave away twelve points by double-faulting, including one at a crucial point in the seventh game of the second set, allowing Radwanska to break serve for a 5-2 lead.
Radwanska only dropped one point when serving for the match for a stunning 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 defeat.
The last time the second seed lost before reaching the fourth round was Andrea Jaeger at the 1981 US Open.
Next up for Radwanska is the winner of tonight’s showdown between Nicole Vaidisova and Shahar Peer.
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Kurt | Sep 1, 2007 | Reply
Wow. Just wow. I knew Radwanska was an up-and-comer to watch, but defeating Sharapova in the largest stadium court in the world when the latter was the defending US Open champion… wow.
Richard | Sep 1, 2007 | Reply
Sharapova did hit 38 winners to 18 with the other girl, but man was she spraying errors all over the place. How do you blow a 2-0 lead in the third as the champ? this hurts more than losses to the Williams.
msethel | Sep 1, 2007 | Reply
Sharapova is a good player, but a bit overrated. She has won only two majors in the
last four years. This young polish player beat her at her own game.
msethel | Sep 1, 2007 | Reply
Sharapova is not the player the media gives her
credit for. Her rating should be lower.
Mad Professah | Sep 1, 2007 | Reply
Pretty amazing… I’m playing in a tournament myself right now but I will definitely watch this match tonight on TIVO
Aaress | Sep 1, 2007 | Reply
Richard, at 2-0 it looked like Sharapova was in COMPLETE control.
Blowing eight straight games is completely unexcusable for the No. 2 in the world. Of course, she probably will not be No. 2 when the Open is over.
She needs to go home, rest that shoulder, and work on her serve before heading to Asia.
Richard | Sep 1, 2007 | Reply
Definitely, Aaress. It almost seems as though Sharapova got BORED with tennis or something, and just wanted to go back to the hotel and sleep. I think she can fall as low as No.6 in the rankings….
Aaress | Sep 1, 2007 | Reply
I fully expect Jankovic to pass Sharapova up for the No. 2 spot, and defending on how well Kuznetsova finishes, she may zoom past her as well. Obviously, we’ll have to wait and see until next Monday when the new rankings come out, but one thing is for certain, Maria is going to take a big hit.
Justine is looking pretty secure in the top spot for the present, but personally, I’d love to see it come down to the wire for the year-end ranking at the WTA Championships, like last season. It definitely brought all new meaning to the term “best in the world.”
Diane | Sep 1, 2007 | Reply
This isn’t the first time I’ve seen Sharapova implode, but the commentators tend to ignore it, and each time she does it, it’s like it never happened before. Though I think she is generally pretty mentally tough, she is not as mentally tough as she is made out to be.
Aaress | Sep 1, 2007 | Reply
Diane,
I believe that is because we have some pretty biased commentators sitting in the broadcast booth, singing the praises of Maria.
Like you said, this was certainly not the first time this has happened, and with the way Sharapova’s confidence is right now, it will not be the last.
Instead of having commentators clamouring on and on about Sharapova’s mental toughness and how good a fighter she is, why are they not talking about her record against the top players - the ones that she, as No. 2 in the world, is supposed to be beating? Granted, not every match can go into a three-set showdown, but she has completely melted down against Serena, Venus, and even Ana Ivanovic recently.
Funny how we hardly ever hear these stats on the air.
Nexty | Sep 2, 2007 | Reply
Instead of critisizing Maria for her match, I think we should instead give credit to her opponent who took her out of her mind… If you look at the end of the match you will notice that Agneska was 3-4 meters inside te court when Maria was hitting 2nd serve… That was a really intelligent and subtile way to take off Maria’s concentartion who then made double faults… It was like Michael Chang beating Lendle in RG… I actaully wanted her to make a forehand serve, even though I thought it would be kind of humilitating towards Sharapova
Aaress | Sep 2, 2007 | Reply
Good point Nexty - Radwanska was the better player and deserved the win and all the credit she can get.
Playing so far inside the baseline was a brilliant plan and taking the second serve early was a big part of the victory.
Did anyone else hear the ridiculous discussion about whether this was gamesmanship later on during USA’s coverage?
Gamesmanship whatever. She found a weakness, exploited it, and it helped her to the win. Good for her - isn’t that what a win is all about?