4 Sep 2011

Sharapova out of US Open

8:05 am on 4 September 2011

Maria Sharapova was knocked out of the US Tennis Open by Italian Flavia Pennetta after the former champion's notoriously shaky serve let her down when it mattered most.

The Russian twice clawed her way back from a seemingly hopeless position to give herself the chance of winning when she threw it away, losing the third-round match 6-3 3-6 6-4.

Needing to hold serve to stay alive, the third seed double faulted twice, bringing her tally for the match to 12 along with 60 unforced errors.

Pennetta's next opponent is China's Peng Shuai, the 13th seed, who advanced with a 6-4 7-6 win over Julia Goerges of Germany.