TORONTO: Maria Sharapova lost in the third round of the Rogers Cup on Thursday, 6-3, 7-5 to 135th-ranked Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan. The 26-year-old Voskoboeva, who ousted Marion Bartoli and Flavia Pennetta to earn her date with Sharapova, beat the Russian star with soft drop shots and had the veteran chasing balls to the baseline throughout the match.
This was Sharapova’s second tournament since losing to Petra Kvitova in the Wimbledon final. Sharapova lost to Serena Williams in the quarterfinals at Stanford last month.
She became the latest casualty of the Rogers Cup women’s draw, hours after French Open champion and sixth-seeded Li Na of China bowed out of third-round action with a 6-2, 6-4 loss to No. 10 seed Samantha Stosur of Australia. “I felt like a junior on the court,” Li said. The lack of match play was obvious for Li, who fired numerous returns long on another blustery day at the Rexall Centre. (Agencies)
