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Florida - Top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki has lost 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 to German Andrea Petkovic in the Sony Ericsson Open at Key Biscayne.
Petkovic, seeded 21st, hit her first ace to close out the opening set, and another on match point. She danced at the net and waved her arms to celebrate her biggest victory.
"Actually, I don't really believe it," she told the crowd. "Caroline is such a tough, tough player, and so tough to beat, so I'm really thrilled."
Wozniacki, who won her 14th career title a week ago at Indian Wells, failed to convert a set point leading 5-4 in the opening set. As the final set slipped away she kicked a ball in anger, but when the match ended she greeted Petkovic with a gracious grin.
No. 16-seeded Maria Sharapova scored her first win over a top-five player in more than three years, beating No. 4 Samantha Stosur 6-4, 6-1. Sharapova, a two-time runner-up at Key Biscayne, earned a berth in the quarterfinals against No. 26 Alexandra Dulgheru, who beat Peng Shuai 6-3, 6-4.
Wozniacki will remain No. 1 through at least April 18 despite her loss. The women's ranking system has drawn criticism because Wozniacki has yet to win a Grand Slam tournament.
She has never reached the semifinals at Key Biscayne.
Petkovic, ranked a career-best 23rd, becomes the first German woman to reach the tournament's quarterfinals since Anke Huber in 2001. She pulled off the upset by mixing her pace and occasionally charging forward.
"Most players think they can overpower Caroline," Petkovic said. "I think that's the wrong approach, because she's going to bring each ball back, so I tried to mix it up a little bit. Thankfully it worked."
Sharapova has lost only 12 games in three matches at Key Biscayne. She missed the tournament in 2008-10 because of injuries.
"Since I haven't played here in so many years, I feel like I owe it to my fans to play many matches here," she told the crowd with a laugh.
Against Stosur, Sharapova had 21 winners and 23 unforced errors. Her sometimes erratic serve was steady, and she was broken only once.
Sharapova improved to 7-0 against Stosur, who was the French Open runner-up last year but is just 9-8 (all on hardcourts) in 2011.
