Maria meets her match

Former champion Maria Sharapova was knocked out of Wimbledon in a stunning second-round upset on Thursday...

Former champion Maria Sharapova was knocked out of Wimbledon in a stunning second-round upset on Thursday by a 154th-ranked Russian, marking her earliest exit from a Grand Slam since her first full season on tour in 2003.

Her game littered by double faults and ugly unforced errors, the third-seeded Sharapova slumped to a 6-2, 6-4 loss to 20-year-old Alla Kudryavtseva on Court 1.

8220;She had nothing to lose,8221; Sharapova said. 8220;She went for her shots. I can8217;t be really happy about anything today.8221;

Sharapova is the second marquee player eliminated in as many days. But her defeat to a little-known player with a career Grand Slam record of 4-5 was a much bigger shock than No. 3-ranked Novak Djokovic8217;s loss to former No. 1 Marat Safin on Wednesday.

Defending champion Venus Williams, meanwhile, overcame another erratic performance and pulled away to beat Britain8217;s Anne Keothavong 7-5, 6-2 and reach the third round.

In men8217;s play, second-seeded Rafael Nadal rallied to beat 19-year-old Latvian star Ernests Gulbis 5-7, 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 2, 6-3, while American James Blake had another bad Wimbledon outing, going down 6-3, 6-7 8, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 to Germany8217;s Rainer Schuettler.

It was clear from the start that Sharapova was off her game 8212; other than her shrieking grunts, this wasn8217;t the usual Sharapova. She looked listless and finished with 22 unforced errors and eight double faults.

Story continues below this ad

Asked what went wrong, she said, 8220;Not sure. It8217;s a question I8217;ll be asking myself. I think I8217;ve got to look at the tape to see what went wrong. It went a little fast to analyse it right now. I felt that I wasn8217;t playing my game. I was letting her take control of the majority of the points.8221;

Other results seeded players

Men: 27-Nicolas Kiefer bt Martin Vassallo Arguello 6-0, 6-3, 6-1; 17-Mikhail Youzhny bt Stefano Galvani 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3; Tommy Haas bt 23-Tommy Robredo 6-4, 6-4, 6-3; 12-Andy Murray bt Xavier Malisse 6-4, 6-2, 6-2

Women: Gisela Dulko bt 25-Lindsay Davenport; Tamarine Tanasugarn bt 13-Vera Zvonareva 7-6 10, 4-6, 6-3; 7-Venus Williams bt Anne Keothavong 7-5, 6-2; 9-Dinara Safina bt Hsieh Su-wei 6-3, 6-2; 24-Shahar Peer bt Emilie Loit 6-3, 6-4