
Maria Sharapova is out of the French Open.
Sharapova, the top women's tennis player in the world, lost to fellow Russian Dinara Safina, 6-7, 7-6, 6-2, in their fourth-round match this morning. With all of the Americans out of the draw, Sharapova was probably the best-known player left among American fans in a French Open that will soon be completely out of the American sports consciousness.
Sharapova appeared to be cruising toward a victory and even had a match point in the second set, but Safina rallied to win, setting up a quarterfinal match with yet another Russian, Elena Dementieva.
The 22-year-old Safina, the 13th seed at Roland Garros, also beat Sharapova in 2006. She is best known to casual fans as the younger sister of former world No. 1 men's player Marat Safin.




