Pennetta surprises Sharapova in 3rd round

NEW YORK - That Maria Sharapova's shaky serving contributed to her early exit at the U.S. Open — to the tune of a dozen double-faults — came as no surprise. She's faced that problem for quite some time. That Sharapova's other strokes also were problematic Friday could be explained away by the perpetual motion of her opponent in the third round, 26th-seeded Flavia Pennetta of Italy. That three-time major champion Sharapova's nerve would fail her in the crucible of a third set? Now that was the real stunner. Story continues below ↓ advertisement | your ad here Unbeaten this year in 12 previous matches that went the distance, the third-seeded Sharapova faltered down the stretch and dropped the last seven points of a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 loss to Pennetta that took 2½ hours. "She's a good fighter, you know. You can never give up with her. You have to be focused until the last game; until the last point, actually," Pennetta said. "But I think (at) 5-4, she's starting to feel a little bit of pressure." After trailing 3-0 and 4-1 in the last set, Sharapova turned things around briefly, getting to 4-all, 15-30 on Pennetta's serve. But the 2006 U.S. Open champion wouldn't win another point. "I came back. I had chances. There's no doubt I had chances," Sharapova said. "But I guess today was the day I didn't take them." Aside from all of those double-faults — including two to begin the final game — Sharapova finished with a total of 60 unforced errors, twice as high as her winner count. "I didn't feel comfortable with most of my game today," Sharapova said. Because of her Grand Slam pedigree and recent play, she was seen as someone who'd stick around deep into the second week at Flushing Meadows. Instead, Sharapova joined the reigning Wimbledon (Petra Kvitova) and French Open (Li Na) champions in leaving quickly, while two-time defending U.S. Open champion Kim Clijsters didn't enter because of injury. 2010 Wimbledon and U.S. Open runner-up Vera Zvonareva beat No. 30 Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-4, 7-5, and No. 13 Peng Shuai defeated No. 19 Julia Goerges 6-4, 7-6 (1).   Slideshow