French Open: Venus Williams beaten; Maria Sharapova wins

Third-seeded Venus Williams was eliminated from the French Open on Friday with her most lopsided Grand Slam loss since 2001.

Williams fell, 6-0, 6-4, to 29th-seeded Agnes Szavay of Hungary in the third round at Roland Garros in Paris.

“I’m used to beating people 6-0. I’m not used to my shot not going in and losing a set 6-0,” Williams said. “So it completely was foreign ground for me.”

Hours later, Maria Sharapova appeared headed for a similar fate, but she came back to beat 98th-ranked Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4.

In other women’s matches, No. 1 Dinara Safina and defending champion Ana Ivanovic won easily. In the men’s draw, four-time reigning champion Rafael Nadal made things look simple against former No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt, beating him, 6-1, 6-3, 6-1, and No. 3 Andy Murray, No. 8 Fernando Verdasco and No. 10 Nikolay Davydenko also reached the fourth round.

Golf: Steve Stricker shot his second straight 63, giving him a 14-under 126 total and a one-shot lead after 36 holes of the Crowne Plaza Invitational at the Colonial Country Club in Ft. Worth, Texas. Tim Clark, Vijah Singh and Shaun O’Hair shot 64s and were lined up right behind Stricker: Clark was one shot back, Singh one more and O’Hair yet another. …

Champions Tour newcomer Olin Browne, native Iowan Lonnie Nielsen and Bruce Vaughan were tied for the lead at four-under 67 after the opening round of the Principal Charity Classic in West Des Moines, Iowa. Eleven others were within one shot of the lead, including Nick Price, Fred Funk and Tom Kite.

Horse racing: Preakness winner Rachel Alexandra will not run in the Belmont Stakes on June 6, opening the way for jockey Calvin Borel to return to Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird in his quest for a personal Triple Crown. Jess Jackson, Rachel Alexandra’s co-owner, said the filly “deserves a well-earned vacation.”

from: freep.com