Thursday, June 26, 2008

SHARAPOVA, RODDICK, BLAKE - ALL GONE

Andy Roddick and James Blake both suffered early exits at the hands of unseeded opponents, leaving unheralded Bobby Reynolds as the lone American remaining in the men's draw.

For all the accolades his serve usually receives, Roddick's failure to break Janko Tipsarevic cost him dearly in a 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (4) loss to the 40th-ranked Serbian, who has never gone past the fourth round at a major.

The ninth-seeded Blake's woes in five-set matches continued as he fell to Rainer Schuettler 6-3, 6-7 (8), 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in their second-round match.

Blake made 37 unforcred errors to Schuettler's 28 and lost for the 11th time in 14 career five-set matches.

Second-ranked Rafael Nadal fared better, advancing to the third round with a 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (2), 6-3 win over Ernests Gulbis.

Former champion Maria Sharapova was knocked out of Wimbledon in a stunning second-round upset Thursday by a 154th-ranked Russian, marking her earliest exit from a Grand Slam tournament since her first full season on tour in 2003.

Her game littered by double faults and ugly unforced errors, the third-seeded Sharapova slumped to a 6-2, 6-4 loss to 20-year-old Alla Kudryavtseva.

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