Sharapova makes early exit in California

Sharapova makes early exit in California

Indian Wells, California - Former champion and 10th seed Maria Sharapova ofs Rusia was knocked out of the Indian Wells WTA tournament on Sunday, losing an error-strewn marathon to China's Zheng Jie 6-3, 2-6, 6-3. Zheng, a surprise semi-finalist at the Australian Open in January, broke Sharapova three times in the final set before clinching victory in just under three hours The 26-year-old Chinese, seeded 18th, punched her right fist in delight after booking a place in the fourth round against Australian wildcard Alicia Molik, a 6-0, 6-2 winner over British qualifier Elena Baltacha.Zheng broke the former world number one three times to win the opening set but the 2006 champion followed suit in a protracted second set that lasted one hour eight minutes to level the match. Early service breaks were traded in the third before Sharapova appeared to take control when she again broke the Chinese, forcing a baseline error by her opponent with a powerful forehand to lead 3-1. After taking a medical timeout, Sharapova was then broken in her next two service games and Zheng, a feisty counter-puncher, took advantage by holding her own serve to close out the match. Sharapova, who had clinched her 21st WTA title in Memphis last month, piled up 62 unforced errors in the third-round encounter compared to 40 by Zheng.