Wimbledon Results: Alla Kudryavtseva eliminates Sharapova

Wimbledon Results: Alla Kudryavtseva eliminates Sharapova Yet another upset during the 2008 Wimbledon, underdog Alla Kudryavtseva managed to eliminate favourite fellow Russian Maria Sharapova. Ranked 154th in the world, Alla Kudryavtseva defeated former champion Sharapova 6-2, 6-4. The 2004 champion's game fell apart against her fellow Russian and she suffered her earliest defeat at a grand slam since going out of the U.S. Open in the second round in 2003. Sharapova, however, did not fail to compliment her opponent Kudryavtseva: "I guess it wasn't my day. She just did everything better than I did. She had nothing to lose and went for her shots. She served and returned better and on grass they are two important elements. I was just pretty tentative. I'm not sure why. It's a question I'll be asking myself. I wasn't playing my game and I let her take control on the majority of points. On any given day you can go out there and if your game's not quite right you can be beaten, especially against an opponent with not much to lose."

Great day for Alla Kudryavtseva, who has never been past the third round of a Grand Slam and this was only her second singles victory at Wimbledon. Apart from a close battle with Venus Williams at the last year's Wimbledon, Kudryavtseva had never made a mark at the majors, losing in the opening round of both the Australian and French opens.

Following Kudryavtseva's victory over Sharapova, the odds makers at the British sportsbook Paddy Power finally took notice of the Russian and moved her from absolute underdog to 66/1 to win the Grand Slam. The Williams sisters are still the favourite players at the Wimbledon women, Venus listed with odds 11/4 and Serena wit odds 3/1.

Published on 06/26/2008