Federer, Sharapova, Wozniacki lose in the second round

Jun 27, 2013 Sports

USA Today – On one of the most surprising days at Wimbledon ever, this may have been the most surprising.
Sergiy Stakhovsky, ranked 116th, knocked out seven-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer, 6-7, 7-6, 7-5, 7-6.  It was the first time in 21 tries that Stakhovsky had ever beaten a top-10 player.  Stakhovsky called his win “magic,” saying, “I couldn’t play any better today.”
At one point in the match ESPN flashed a graphic showing that Stakhovsky had 12 grass court wins while Federer had 13 grass court titles.
Federer, who had made 36 consecutive major quarterfinals, played poorly at times, shanking a handful of forehand volleys. The winner was masterful with his serve and volley game.
On several points, he got Federer in a position in which he couldn’t return a shot or could only return it in a dangerous place.
The day also saw Lleyton Hewitt and Maria Sharapova getting upset and it was a day of injuries and retirement.  Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Victoria Azarenka and John Isner among the seven players to retire or not start a match due to injuries.
In addition, Caroline Wozniacki lost in straight sets after injuring her ankle early in her match.
In another upset, former Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova took an early exit this year losing to Michelle Larcher de Brito, 6-3, 6-4.
“I just wasn’t there,” Sharapova said about her effort. She thought her opponent was better saying “she played really great tennis. All the credit to her she played really well from start to finish.”
The winner, 19-years-old, is ranked No. 131.
Sharapova, the No.3 seed, did not seem to be moving at 100% after taking three early spills and battling with a left hip injury.  “It is just part of the game,” Sharapova said of the slippery courts that claimed a handful of players today.
After the match, Sharapova said she hadn’t checked into her injury but believes her hip was “strained a little bit.”  Sharapova called for the trainer after serving in the second set.  She ended up on her back and was being stretched. She would leave the court for nine minutes to get stretched out.
Sharapova, who had some trouble with double-faults, saved four match points in the final game but de Brito ended up with the triumph.
In addition, Caroline Wozniacki lost in straight sets after injuring her ankle early in the match.
Sharapova and Azarenka were seen as the top challengers to Serena Williams for this year’s title.
Playing with tape on her right ankle, former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki slumped to a 6-2, 6-2 defeat to Petra Cetkovska in the second round of Wimbledon yesterday.
The ninth-seeded Wozniacki, who has never fared very well on the London grass, is going through a mediocre season. She also lost in the 2nd round at the French Open.  The 196th-ranked Cetkovska, who reached the fourth round at Wimbledon two years ago, erased the six break points she faced and hit 30 winners.
A qualifier from the Czech Republic, Cetkovska’s 2012 was cut short after the London Olympics because of a right ankle injury. She returned this year and has nosedived in the WTA rankings.
A couple of years ago, struggling financially, Dustin Brown used to travel across Europe in a camper van without a permanent coach. Only the boldest bookmakers will now bet that he will return to this lifestyle after claiming the biggest win of his career yesterday at Wimbledon.
Sporting long dreadlocks and gifted with an old-fashioned serve and volley style of play, Brown won his first match in the Wimbledon main draw earlier this week. He then achieved his best Grand Slam performance by reaching the third round with a surprise win over former champion Lleyton Hewitt.
Hewitt was overwhelmed by Brown’s aggressive strokes and unorthodox style of play as the German qualifier came through 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-2.
Brown, who was born in Germany to a Jamaican father and a German mother, changed nationality from Jamaican to German in 2010 because of the lack of financial support from the Jamaican federation. He moved to Jamaica as a 12-year-old boy and can speak Jamaican patois, German and English.
A big server, Brown is naturally attracted to the net. Against Hewitt, he tried his luck at the net 87 times and hit 74 winners. He won the first set with a diving forehand volley and produced some beautiful drop shots throughout the match.
British number one Andy Murray made his way safely through to the third round on a remarkable day of upsets and injuries at Wimbledon.
Murray did not put a foot wrong as he saw off Taiwan’s Yen-Hsun Lu 6-3 6-3 7-5 on Court One, and the Scot will play Spanish 32nd seed Tommy Robredo in the last 32.
The straightforward nature of his match was in marked contrast to events across the rest of the All England Club, with seven-time champion Roger Federer’s defeat capping an amazing few hours.
Federer, who lost in four sets to Sergiy Stakhovsky, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, among seven players to succumb to injuries, were both removed from Murray’s possible route to the final.
Number 12 seed Ana Ivanovic is also out, losing 6-3 6-3 to 2012 junior champion Eugenie Bouchard. The match was moved from an outside court to Centre after Victoria Azarenka pulled out through injury.  The 19-year-old world number 66 broke Ivanovic five times in a match lasting only 63 minutes.
Ninth-seed Caroline Wozniacki was beaten 6-2 6-2 in her second-round match by Czech Petra Cetkovska.
In what was only her third tournament since returning from four months out with a stress fracture of her foot, world number 186 Cetkovska comfortably saw off her Danish opponent in just 75 minutes.
The teenager will play Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain next before a potential fourth-round meeting with former champion Petra Kvitova.  Navarro, who is the 19th seed, recovered after losing the first set to beat Croatian Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 1-6 6-3 6-3.
Monica Puig, who knocked out fifth seed Sara Errani, is through to the third round after she beat Silvia Soler-Espinosa of Spain 6-2 5-7 6-4.
Kvitova made it through to the third round without hitting a ball after her opponent Yaroslava Shvedova pulled out with an arm injury.  She became the seventh player to withdraw through injury yesterday.