PARIS — Maria Sharapova did not go quietly.
No, her departure from the French Open was filled with sound and fury: her stroke-accompanying shrieks, her self-loathing shouts between points and the spectators’ hearty boos and high-pitched whistles that ushered the No. 1-seeded woman to the exit.
One point from reaching the quarterfinals at the only Grand Slam tournament she’s never won, Sharapova allowed every bit of a significant lead slip away Monday and collapsed to a 6-7 (6), 7-6 (5), 6-2 defeat against No. 13 Dinara Safina.
“Oh, I was angry,” Sharapova said. “I was angry for making unforced errors, for not taking some of those balls and just ripping them.”
Her fourth-round departure was the most startling development on a day that included this footnote: The last U.S. man or woman playing singles at Roland Garros, 88th-ranked Robby Ginepri, was eliminated 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-1 by No. 24 Fernando Gonzalez of Chile.
“A five-hour ‘grindfest’ would have favored me a little bit more,” Ginepri said. “I tried to end the points too quickly.”
Gonzalez now faces No. 1 Roger Federer in the quarter-finals in a rematch of the 2007 Australian Open final that Federer won for one of his 12 Grand Slam titles. No. 5 David Ferrer will meet Gael Monfils in another quarterfinal.
Rounding out the rough showing for Americans in Paris, the top-seeded men’s doubles team of twins Bob and Mike Bryan was upset by Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay and Luis Horna of Peru 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (1) in a quarterfinal that ended in a downpour — and with a bit of rancor.
When the teams switched sides during the third-set tiebreaker, Cuevas celebrated his duo’s 5-1 lead by leaping over the net. The Bryans didn’t shake his hand when the match ended.
At a glance
A look at the French Open on Monday:
Upsets: Men: Gael Monfils def. No. 28 Ivan Ljubicic. Women: No. 13 Dinara Safina def. No. 1 Maria Sharapova.
Suspended matches: No. 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova leads No. 16 Victoria Azarenka 6-2, 2-2, and Petra Kivtova and Kaia Kanepi are tied at a set apiece in fourth-round matches suspended because of darkness.
On court today: No. 2 Rafael Nadal vs. No. 19 Nicolas Almagro, No. 3 Novak Djokovic vs. Ernests Gulbis; No. 2 Ana Ivanovic vs. No. 10 Patty Schnyder,
No. 3 Jelena Jankovic vs. Carla Suarez Navarro.
Stat of the day: 1 — Match point wasted by Sharapova in her 6-7 (6), 7-6 (5), 6-2 loss to Safina
Quote of the day: “He was born on clay, more or less.” — Roger Federer, on his quarterfinal opponent, Fernando Gonzalez
TV: Tennis Channel, 4 a.m.-10 a.m.; ESPN2, 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
