Sharapova beaten in Moscow Pierce survives

Maria Sharapova was ousted from the Kremlin Cup quarter-finals by unfancied Dinara Safina 1-6 6-4 7-5 in a battle of Russian teenagers yesterday. The Florida-based 18-year-old, playing the Moscow event for the first time, controlled her nerves in the...

Maria Sharapova was ousted from the Kremlin Cup quarter-finals by unfancied Dinara Safina 1-6 6-4 7-5 in a battle of Russian teenagers yesterday.

The Florida-based 18-year-old, playing the Moscow event for the first time, controlled her nerves in the first set against Safina, breaking the younger sister of Australian Open champion Marat Safin three times to seal it in 31 minutes.

But Safina, urged on by her brother, staged a spirited comeback to beat the top seed who had been lucky to reach this far.

Earlier, France's third seed Mary Pierce survived six match points against Elena Likhovtseva before prevailing 7-5 4-6 7-6 after nearly 3 1/2 hours of battle.

The experienced Russian led 6-0 in the final-set tiebreak but somehow allowed the French and US Open finalist to win the next eight points for a sensational comeback.

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