January 23, 2011
Russian Former world number one Maria Sharapova undergo a fourth round surprise the Australian Open 2011 on Sunday when Masha was Knocked Out 6-2 6-3 by World's 30th seed German Andrea Petkovic in straight sets .
Maria shrapova was on the backside from the start, she 30 unforced errors in a performance which underlined her struggles since her shoulder surgery in late 2008, the year she won the title in Melbourne. It is the German's first time enters into a grand slam final eight since 1999 by defeating Maria 6-2 6-3 in one hour and 19 minutes and Andrea Petkovic celebrated with her now trademark shuffle on court, known as the 'Pet-Ko Dance'.
It all happening with her new coach, Petar Popovic, back in New York last September when her early tournament form at the US Open wasn't so good.
"I play much better since I do the dance. So for everybody if something is not going well, just do a little dance," the 33-year-old Petkovic told the crowd.
Fourteenth seed Sharapova a three-times grand slam champion had no answers to Petkovic, who dominated from the outset. And sheexit before the quarter-finals follows fellow stars Venus Williams, Ana Ivanovic, Justine Henin and Sam Stosur, made a late charge from 2-0 down in the second set, saving two match points with a pair of rocket forehands.
"You know it was such a tough match. Just two or three points and Maria comes back. I'm just happy I closed it out in the end," Petkovic said. "It's my primary goal to compete with the great champions and maybe become one myself one day."
Maria Sharapova had dug herself too big a hole against a dangerous and Andrea Petkovic completed victory in 79 minutes with a deep serve also needed medical time-outs, both went through bunches of bananas, packets of carbohydrate gels, sets of clothes, head-bands and wrist-bands and more than a dozen bottles of water eachbut Sharapova could only push into the net.
Maria Sharapova, who holds three Grand Slam singles titles including 2004 Wimbledon, 2006 US Open and 2008 Australian Open, has not won a Slam since she had a shoulder surgery at the end of 2008. Save for a brief blip on her first match point when leading 5-1 in the second as Sharapova rallied to break serve and threaten a fightback, Petkovic was clearly the better player and claimed victory on her third match point.
Petkovic, who now breaks into top 25 world ranking by entering her first ever Grand Slam quarterfinal, will face a very tough match against China's Li Na, a player who advanced to the final eight by defeating Victoria Azarenka earlier on Sunday.
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