Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova wasn't overly upset after she lost to Mary Pierce 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the US Open's third round on Saturday.
Sharapova's silver dress carried a plain black ribbon in memory of the more than 340 people, nearly half children, killed in a hostage-taking at a school in her native Russia.
"I lost today, but I still have to move on. It's not the end of the world," said Sharapova, who double-faulted 14 times and dropped the final five games. "There are a lot more important things in the world going on right now."
Given her almost perfect English, her all-grown-up strokes, and her poise on and off the court, it's easy to forget that Sharapova is just 17 and was born in Siberia.
If she hadn't flashed the tennis ability that prompted a move to Florida a decade ago, Sharapova might very well be just another teen readjusting to high school life this week, half a world away.
"The first of September is when so many kids go to school, the first day back. They go in with flowers and the whole family," she said. "Unfortunately, the terrorists decided to do something bad with those families and kids. It just shows that my loss is a little thing."
As far as tennis goes, though, her exit was the day's most significant development, more surprising than No. 3 Carlos Moya's 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 7-5 collapse against 100th-ranked Oliver Rochus of Belgium, at 1.65m the shortest ATP Tour regular.
Otherwise, the top players advanced in straight sets, including Justine Henin-Hardenne, Lindsay Davenport, Roger Federer and Andre Agassi.
Agassi's next opponent will be Sargis Sargsian, who erased a two-set deficit and saved two match points to beat Paul-Henri Mathieu of France 4-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (4) in 4 hours, 41 minutes. Add in his second-round upset of No. 10 Nicolas Massu -- at 5:09, the second-longest match in tournament history -- and Sargsian broke the record for longest consecutive Open matches.
"I don't know how I did it," said Sargsian, an Armenian ranked 54th.
Often mistaken by security guards for a ball boy or a junior player, Rochus entered the tournament with a 76-101 career mark and an 0-4 Open record. That last fact prompted Moya to ask incredulously, "He never won?"
The Belgian knocked off No. 27 Mario Ancic, a Wimbledon semifinalist, in the first round, and can reach his first Grand Slam quarterfinal by beating No. 22 Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia.
"That's why you don't underestimate anybody," said Agassi, a 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 winner over No. 25 Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic.
Moya won the 1998 French Open, but he's been a quarterfinalist at just three of his past 20 majors, and he was largely his own undoing on Saturday. He made 61 unforced errors, and double-faulted on match point.
When they met at the net, Rochus looked straight at the 1.91m Moya's chest. Moya patted Rochus' shoulder, as if offering kudos to a kid brother.
"It happens in tennis sometimes: You don't know why you play good," Rochus said.
Henin-Hardenne beat Lisa Raymond of the United States 6-4, 6-3, Davenport got past No. 26 Elena Bovina 7-6 (7), 6-2, and Federer's 6-0, 6-4, 7-6 (7) victory over No. 31 Fabrice Santoro put him in the round of 16 for the fourth straight year.
"The way he's playing now," Santoro cautioned, "he doesn't have to be scared of anyone."
But Federer's never been past the Open's fourth round. If he does reach the quarterfinals, his opponent could be Agassi, an eight-time major champion.
Agassi's right sneaker's sole tore away against Novak, so he reached into his bag for a plastic tube of glue and reattached it. That was the biggest blip in another easy victory.
"You never know when you need your best tennis," Agassi said. "That's why it's always best to save it for when you do."
Pierce, a dozen years older than Sharapova, was superb after trailing 3-1 in the third set. The 1995 Australian Open and 2000 French Open champion displayed the powerful groundstrokes she rebuilt after missing months at a time with back and shoulder injuries.
When Sharapova slapped a return into the net on match point, Pierce went to her changeover chair, knelt and prayed.
"I just appreciate it so much more," said Pierce, who faces No. 9 Svetlana Kuznetsova next. "I believe in myself, and it's nice to have that confirmation actually happen in reality."
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but