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Sharapova upset by qualifier

London - Third seed and 2004 champion Maria Sharapova crashed out of Wimbledon on Wednesday, losing 6-3, 6-4 in the second round to Portuguese qualifier Michelle Larcher De Brito, the world number 131.

Sharapova's defeat came just hours after second seed Victoria Azarenka withdrew from the tournament with a knee injury.

But it was a controversial exit for Sharapova who twice slipped and fell on Court Two.

She needed a medical timeout to treat her left hip after the eighth game of the second set and complained to the umpire that the surface was dangerous.

Larcher De Brito had hit the headlines in 2009 when, as a precocious 16-year-old, she was widely-criticised for her on-court grunting which some rivals condemned as unsporting.

The controversy did her career little good as she virtually disappeared off the radar and her ranking slumped.

But honing the skills and screams she perfected at the same Bollettieri academy home of Sharapova, she capitalised on her famous rival's obvious discomfort at having to play on Court Two.

The Russian pleaded that the conditions were too treacherous but the match continued.

"I saw how she fell pretty hard and I know these grass courts can be really slippery and can be quite dangerous," said Larcher De Brito, who took victory on a fifth match point.

"There's a lot of grass that's been cut that didn't get swept off so there's a lot of dead grass on the top and it made it quite slippery."

Larcher De Brito goes on to face Karin Knapp of Italy for a place in the last 16.

Results at Wimbledon from the third day of Wimbledon (x denotes seeded player):

Men's singles:

Second round:
Lukasz Kubot (POL) bt Steve Darcis (BEL) - walkover
Benot Paire (FRA x25) bt Stphane Robert (FRA) 6-4, 7-5, 6-4
Adrian Mannarino (FRA) bt John Isner USA x18) 1-1 - retired
Dustin Brown (GER) bt Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (3/7), 6-2
Nicolas Almagro (ESP x15) bt Guillaume Rufin (FRA) 7-5, 6-7 (6/8), 6-3, 6-4
Jerzy Janowicz (POL x24) bt Radek Stepanek (CZE) 6-2, 5-3 - retired
Ernests Gulbis (LAT) bt Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA x6) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 0-0 - retired
Fernando Verdasco (ESP) bt Julien Benneteau (FRA x31) 7-6 (7/1), 7-6 (7/4), 6-4
Kenny De Schepper (FRA) bt Marin Cilic (CRO x10) - walkover
Viktor Troicki (SRB) bt Andrey Kuznetsov (RUS) 6-4, 6-3, 6-4
Mikhail Youzhny (RUS x20) bt Vasek Pospisil (CAN) 6-2, 6-7 (3/7), 7-6 (9/7), 3-6, 6-4
Tommy Robredo (ESP x32) bt Nicolas Mahut (FRA) 7-6 (7/3), 6-1, 7-6 (7/5)

Women's singles:

Second round:
Monica Puig (PUR) bt Silvia Soler (ESP) 6-2, 5-7, 6-4
Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP x19) bt Mirjana Lucic (CRO) 1-6, 6-3, 6-3
Alize Cornet (FRA x29) bt Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) 6-3, 6-2
Flavia Pennetta (ITA) bt Victoria Azarenka (BLR x2) - walkover
Petra Cetkovska (CZE) bt Caroline Wozniacki (DEN x9) 6-2, 6-2
Karin Knapp (ITA) bt Lucie Safarova (CZE x27) 4-6 6-4 6-4
Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) bt Ana Ivanovic (SRB x12) 6-3 6-3
Eva Birnerova (CZE) bt Lesia Tsurenko (UKR) 6-3 6-4
Michelle Larcher De Brito (POR) bt Maria Sharapova (RUS x3) 6-3, 6-4
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