Aelfgar blog

Tennis: German spoiler Petkovic beats Wozniacki

Top seed Caroline Wozniacki's dream of a coast-to-coast title double hit the wall Monday as as the top seed at the ATP and WTA Miami Masters was upset 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 by Germany's colourful Andrea Petkovic.

The winner, already an internet, YouTube and Twitter personality thanks to her prodigious use of social media, performed a snippet of her jiggy "Petkorazzi" victory dance after the upset in just under two and a half hours.

Petkovic, ranked 23rd and who made a quarter-final at the Australian Open, needed an hour to win the opening set agianst Wozniacki, who claimed the Indian Wells Masters in California eight days ago and had been bidding to repeat on the East coast in Florida.

Petkovic went up 4-2 in the third set on a break and three games later was into the quarter-finals after firing her third ace of the afternoon on match point. She faced 17 break points but saved 12 of them against the world number one Dane.

Russian 16th seed Maria Sharapova also took out a leading seed as she beat Australia's French Open finalist Samantha Stosur 6-4, 6-1.

The Australian who lost the Roland Garros final last year to Francesca Schiavone suffered with five double-faults and no aces in a contest lasting 81 minutes.

US-based Russian Sharapova refused to give Stosur an early birthday present as the Australian, who turns 27 on Wednesday, was broken five times.

"I have a good record against her, but it's not something that you typically look at going into the match," said Sharapova, who missed months over the past few seasons with a shoulder injury which eventually required surgery.

"I know that she's a very tough player.

"She's number five in the world, you can't take that for granted going out on the court. Her serve is one of her biggest weapons. She has a great kick out there and gets more spin than anyone on tour.

"She'll hang in there with you and she'll be tough. She's at her spot for a reason. She's a grand slam finalist and does really well on clay, and many other surfaces, as well."

Stosur's loss left her short of her performances at the last two editions at Crandon Park, where she reached the quarter-finals.

Two-time Miami finalist Sharapova saved three of the four break points she faced as clouds gathered over the stadium prior to possible forecast rain.

Sharapova produced her best result so far this year at Indian Wells this month as she played her first semi-final since last August.

The Russian who owns three Grand Slam titles improved to 20-20 against Top five players, and broke a loss streak against the elite after going down in her last six against top players.

In another women's result, Romanian Alexandra Dulgheru bet China's Peng Shuai 6-3, 6-4.

On the men's side, seventh-seeded Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych beat Argentine Carlos Berlocq 7-6 (10/8), 7-5. Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia beat German Philipp Petzschner 6-3, 6-3 in their third-round contest.