Melbourne: A disappointed Svetlana Kuznetsova barely looked up during her post-match news conference after she was sensationally dumped out of the Australian Open third round 6-3, 6-4 on Saturday by Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska.
Looking at her questioners only momentarily before her eyes again drifted downwards to the desk, Kuznetsova rattled through her obligatory media session in less than three minutes.
The world No. 2 , who lost the Sydney International final to world No. 1 Justine Henin a week ago, looked completely out of sorts against the Krakow teenager.
"This is a pretty tough loss because I think I've been in the best shape ever in Australian Open, and I just didn't make it work," Kuznetsova said.
'It's pretty simple. I think I beat myself up out there, so I didn't do much right things. "I was not playing against her, I was playing against me."
Decisive break
Kuznetsova, who had her left thigh heavily strapped, had fought back from 3-0 deficit in the first set but was unable to continue her momentum, though the Pole needed seven break opportunities to help seal the decisive break for the first set.
The former US Open champion then reversed the slide and established a 3-0 lead in the second set but the battling 29th-seed rattled off three successive games then broke the Russian to take a 5-4 lead.
She then saved a break point in the final match and sealed victory when Kuznetsova's service return of a slow kick serve cannoned into the net.
"I wasn't doing the right things and I lost the match," Kuznetsova added.
"Playing like this I deserved to lose." Kuzentsova, making her earliest exit from a Grand Slam since losing to China's Li Na in the third round at Wimbledon in 2006, made numerous uncharacteristic errors and shouted at herself several times during the match.
"I have got to learn a lot from this loss," she said. "I am very disappointed, but I have to go with it. Today is just one of those days..... I was not playing with the right strategy."
Radwanska, who only finished high school last year, knocked out Maria Sharapova - also a second seed - in round three of last year's US Open.
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"Both matches I had nothing to lose. Just play and try my best and I did it twice," said Radwanska, who had lost all three of her previous encounters with Kuznetsova.
"I'm very excited and happy. I lost against her a few times already ... Finally I did it. I beat her."
Sixth seed Anna Chakvetadze was knocked out of the Australian Open 6-7, 6-1, 6-2 by her former club mate and fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko on Saturday.
Chakvetadze was the second top-10 ranked women's player to lose within the space of an hour at a wet Melbourne Park early on Saturday after Kuznetsova was bundled out in the third round by Radwanska.
Kirilenko, who used to train at the same club as Chakvetadze in Moscow, had not beaten her compatriot since 2005 and the three-match losing streak had started to annoy the 27th seed.
"The last few times I lost (to) her, both in Indian Wells, I got really pissed, you know," Kirilenko said.
"Oh, my God, I beat her every time and now I'm losing. I was always the best ...when I was small, in juniors. Then the last two years she has (been) very successful (and) wins everything, so she became a top 10 player."
The match was evenly poised in the first set with the 20-year-old Chakvetadze prevailing in the tiebreak 8-6 and Kirilenko admitted she had begun to ponder another loss.
"The first set was really tough," said Kirilenko.
"I thought, 'Oh, my God, if it's going to be like (this) all game, it's going to be really difficult'".
Kirilenko, however, said she noticed from watching the television screens above Rod Laver Arena that Chakvetadze was beginning to look fatigued.
"I saw that she was a little bit tired because there's two big screens on the court," she said.
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"When you see like someone is dying on that side you feel more energy."
Chakvetadze saved four match points but she was unable to halt the momentum of Kirilenko, who won the match at her fifth opportunity when her opponent sent a forehand wide.
Blake fights back to beat Grosjean
American James Blake fought back from two sets down to seal a dramatic 4-6, 2-6 6-0,7-6, 6-2 victory over France's Sebastien Grosjean in the Australian Open third round on Saturday.
The 29-year-old Grosjean had raced through the first two sets before the 12th seed blasted him off the court in the third.
Grosjean, however, reversed the momentum and jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the fourth before an angry Blake battled back, held to 5-4 and had two break points for the set before the Frenchman forced the tiebreak.
Blake trailed 3-0 in the tiebreak but surged back to win it 7-5 and ran away with the final set before sealing victory with an ace.
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