Before Wimbledon began, she acknowledged that a recent comeback from shoulder surgery made it too much to ask for her to contend seriously for a second championship at the All England Club.
Sharapova was right: She didn’t even make it out of the second round. Playing poorly at the start and finish Wednesday, the 2004 Wimbledon champion lost 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 to 45th-ranked Gisela Dulko of Argentina.
“Losses are tough - more here than at any other tournament,” said Sharapova, who double-faulted seven times in the final set. “I would have liked to have a longer season before coming here.”
With easy victories for past champions Serena Williams and Roger Federer, Sharapova’s early exit counted as the most surprising development on Day 3 at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament - unless, that is, you count the weather.
The temperature was in the 70s, the sky was bright blue, the clouds were scarce and, for the third day in a row, not a single drop of rain fell. The only use the All England Club is making of Centre Court’s fancy new retractable roof is shifting it slightly to provide some shade for those in the Royal Box.
Sharapova’s opponent worried about being overwhelmed by the setting: Dulko’s only previous visit to Centre Court was when she sat in the stands to watch a match. This time, Dulko was trying to beat someone who not only has been ranked No. 1 and owns three major titles but also won their two previous meetings 6-0, 6-1 and then 6-1, 6-1.
Dulko had been to the fourth round at a Grand Slam tournament only once.
So who would have expected Sharapova to be the wobbly one? Dulko claimed nine of the first 11 games, changing speeds effectively while Sharapova’s errors piled up.
“It took me a while to get going. It’s a little too late to start picking yourself up when you’re down a set and 3-love,” said Sharapova, who had an operation on her right shoulder in October and was off the tour for nine-plus months.
That absence dropped her out of the top 100, but by going 10-3 before Wimbledon - including 6-0 in three-set matches - Sharapova climbed to 60th, and she was seeded 24th based on past success at the tournament. But she was tentative on some shots, just plain off-kilter on others, flubbing some sitters and simple volleys.
“I don’t really know if that’s because I haven’t played,” she said. “When I’ve had those situations before, those balls would be pieces of cake.”
Still, Sharapova won seven games in a row to take the second set and go ahead in the third. “She’s a fighter,” Dulko noted.
The velocity on Sharapova’s serves dropped as they played past two hours, and she kept double-faulting, ceding momentum.
Sharapova kept saving match points in that game, four in all. When Dulko shanked a forehand, it created a break point. But Sharapova put a backhand into the net, pushed a forehand wide and sailed a forehand long, ending her second consecutive second-round loss at Wimbledon.
One player who might benefit from Sharapova’s loss: Williams, the 2002-03 Wimbledon champion, who could have faced the Russian in the quarterfinals. Williams moved into the third round by beating Jarmila Groth 6-2, 6-1.
Three U.S. men lost - Taylor Dent, who double-faulted 21 times; Sam Querrey, who lost a five-setter to No. 11 Marin Cilic of Croatia on Centre Court; and Vince Spadea - but No. 28 Mardy Fish beat Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia in four sets to reach the third round and match his best Wimbledon showing. Next up for Fish is a tougher test, No. 4 Novak Djokovic.
Federer rarely has to put in extra effort at Wimbledon - he’s won 42 of his past 43 matches here and 35 of those were in straight sets - and Wednesday he beat 42nd-ranked Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 6-2, 6-2, 6-4.
Federer is trying to win a sixth Wimbledon crown and record-breaking 15th Grand Slam title overall.
