Stunning upset: Sharapova chased from U.S. Open

[Raji]

NEW YORK -- Bothered by swirling winds and a teen's surprising moxie, Maria Sharapova was completely lost.

Agnieszka Radwanska (+1000) of Poland pulled off the stunning upset Saturday, beating the defending U.S. Open champion 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 by rallying to win the last six games.

Sharapova became the first No. 2-seeded woman to lose before the round of 16 at the Open since Andrea Jaeger in 1981. Her father could barely stand to watch, moving from his front-row perch to a seat farther back in his box during the final points. Sharapova was a -3000 favorite on bodog.com for the match.

The 30th-ranked Radwanska had a lot to do with Sharapova's undoing. At 18, the former junior champ at Wimbledon and the French Open played with poise and smarts, creeping closer and closer to the service box and daring Sharapova to try for aces.

At times, Radwanska walked nearly halfway from the baseline to the net as Sharapova got ready, then backed off at the last second.

''I knew that she hates if somebody is moving on the serve,'' Radwanska said, her braces gleaming in the sunlight. ''She made many mistakes.''

A shrewd move - maybe make it shrew - for someone who likes to talk about her pet rats.

Sharapova's serve was her undoing, especially after early faults. She won only 23 percent of her second-serve points.

At 6-foot-2, Sharapova's high toss is particularly susceptible to gusts, the same way popups often blow crazy across the street at Shea Stadium. She frequently stood still, waiting for the wind to subside. Still, she wrecked herself with 12 double-faults.

Playing in the glare of a morning match, Sharapova put on a sun visor early but never found her rhythm. Dressed in white instead of her power red night outfit, Sharapova finished with 49 unforced errors - she had only 25 in losing a total of two games in her first two matches.

Sharapova seemed to take control when she rallied in the second set.

''She destroyed me,'' Radwanska said.

Then, somehow, she came back. It certainly was a different result from their only other meeting - in a May matchup in Istanbul, Sharapova ran away with a 6-love victory in the third set.

Radwanska's lone singles title came in Stockholm this year, and she said her favorite surfaces are grass and clay, rather than the hard courts at Flushing Meadows.

Now into the fourth round at the U.S. Open, she planned to grab her sister - also a tennis pro - and go celebrate like a giddy teen. They're off to go shopping at Louis Vuitton.

Later, she'll think about tennis.

''I'm not favored here,'' she said. ''I have no idea who is next.''

Raji