16-Year-Old Sharapova Upsets Dokic

Surprising 16-year-old Maria Sharapova notched her biggest win yet at Wimbledon, upsetting 2000 semifinalist Jelena Dokic 6-4, 6-4 in the third round Saturday.

Sharapova, a 6-foot Russian playing in the tournament for the first time, won every game she served. She closed the victory with her eighth ace, then gleefully dropped her racket and made a prayerful gesture to the sky.

By reaching the fourth round, Sharapova matched the best showing by a wild card in women’s singles at Wimbledon.

The Siberian native, who has lived in Florida since age 6, has drawn criticism for the high-pitched grunts that sometimes accompany her shots. But this time there were few shrieks until the final points.

Her showing is reminiscent of the first appearance at Wimbledon by Dokic, who reached the quarterfinals in 1999 at 16.

“She just comes out and swings. She has nothing to lose,” Dokic said. “It will be a different story in a year or two.”

Another Russian, No. 15 Elena Dementieva, beat Aniko Kapros 6-3, 6-1.

In men’s play, Belgian Olivier Rochus reached the fourth round at a Grand Slam event for the first time by beating No. 30-seeded Jarkko Nieminen 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-1. Alexander Popp of Germany, a quarterfinalist in 2000, defeated No. 11 Jiri Novak 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (3).

Sharapova, ranked 91st, lost her first five matches this year but has blossomed on grass. She reached the semifinal two weeks ago at Birmingham and has beaten two seeded players at Wimbledon – No. 11 Dokic and No. 21 Elena Bovina.

Sharapova is one of 17 teenagers who made the women’s draw at Wimbledon this year from such places as Indonesia, Hungary and Ukraine, and old-timer Venus Williams has a tough time keeping up with all the new talent.

“There are a lot of players here I don’t even know just coming through,” the two-time Wimbledon champion said. “I have to get familiar with them all, even learn how to pronounce some of their names, especially the ones with the consonants together.”

Williams knows her fourth-round opponent Monday all too well, however. Vera Zvonareva, one of those youngsters sporting back-to-back consonants, upset Williams in the fourth round at the French Open four weeks ago.

That was Williams’ earliest defeat at a Grand Slam event in two years.

“Definitely the circumstances are a lot different,” said Williams, who blamed an abdominal strain for her showing at Roland Garros. “It was nice for her to have the win at the French Open. Obviously it wasn’t nice for me. Even if I had won that match, I don’t see where I would have been able to do very much at the French.”

Williams earned a chance to avenge the defeat when she beat Roland Garros semifinalist Nadia Petrova 6-1, 6-2 on Friday. Zvonareva, an 18-year-old Russian seeded 16th, defeated Iroda Tulyaganova 6-3, 7-5.

There will be a showcase men’s match Monday, too: No. 5 Andy Roddick against No. 12 Paradorn Srichaphan.

Roddick beat Tommy Robredo 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-4 Friday and advanced to the second week at Wimbledon for the first time.

“You’re thankful to still be around,” Roddick said. “The first week’s always tough. There are a lot of guys with not a lot to lose just gunning. This is a big stage where they want to leave their mark. To survive it is tough.”

Paradorn beat promising 17-year-old Spaniard Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.

Also advancing were No. 4 Roger Federer, Australian Open runner-up Rainer Schuettler and unseeded Max Mirnyi. The 6-foot-5 Mirnyi won a serving showdown against 6-foot-10 Ivo Karlovic, a qualifier who upset defending champion Lleyton Hewitt in the opening round.

Other women’s winners included No. 2 Kim Clijsters, No. 5 Lindsay Davenport and unseeded Silvia Farina Elia, who upset No. 7 Chanda Rubin.