New York: The US Open lost two of its glamour girls in a gap of few minutes on Saturday, when defending champion Maria Sharapova and Indian hope Sania Mirza crashed out in the third round.

Polish teenager Agnieszka Radwanska stunned Sharapova 6-4, 1-6, 6-2, making the Russian become the first No. 2-seeded woman to lose before the round of 16 at the Open since Andrea Jaeger in 1981.

The second seed won eight successive games to lead 2-0 in the final set but Radwanska stormed back to hand Sharapova her earliest Grand Slam defeat since she had lost in the third round at Flushing Meadows in 2004.

There was hardly any fight from Sania as she went down meekly to her Russian nemesis Anna Chakvetadze 2-6, 3-6. Twenty-sixth seeded Sania has now lost all her four encounters against the Russian.

Another seeded Russian was bounced from the tournament when number seven Nadia Petrova committed 29 errors during a 4-6, 4-6 defeat by Hungarian Agnes Szavay.

On the men’s side, fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko advanced to the fourth round with a 7-5, 6-0, 7-5 victory over Spaniard Nicolas Almagro.

The Russian landed 75 per cent of his first serves and used his consistent grind-it-out style to wear down the 28th seeded Almagro.

Fifth seed and 2003 champion Andy Roddick blasted 19 aces to move into the fourth round with a 6-2, 6-2, 6-0 demolition of Thomas Johansson of Sweden.

The 30th-ranked Radwanska had a lot to do with Sharapova’s undoing. At 18, she played with poise and smarts, creeping closer and closer to the service box and daring Sharapova to try for aces. Sharapova’s serve was her undoing, especially after early faults. She won only 23 per cent of her second-serve points.

At 6-foot-2, Sharapova’s high toss is particularly susceptible to gusts, the same way pop-ups often blow crazy across the street at Shea Stadium. She frequently stood still, waiting for the wind to subside. Still, she wrecked herself with 12 double faults.

Playing in the glare of a morning match, Sharapova put on a sun visor early but never found her rhythm. Dressed in white instead of her power red night outfit, the defending champion squandered a 2-0 lead in the third set and finished with 49 unforced errors — she had only 25 in her first two matches.

It certainly was a different result from their only other meeting — in a May match-up in Istanbul. Sharapova ran away with a 6-love victory in the third set.

Earlier, second seed Rafael Nadal advanced to the third round on Friday when Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia retired in the third set after receiving treatment for a rib injury.

The Spaniard was leading 6-2, 6-3, 3-2 when Tipsarevic approached him during the changeover, shook his hand and announced he had to quit the match after one hour, 38 minutes.

Third seed Novak Djokovic survived an epic five-set encounter against Czech Radek Stepanek, fighting off exhaustion and crippling cramps to reach the third round. Djokovic’s 6-7, 7-6 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 triumph lasted four hours 44 minutes on Louis Armstrong Stadium.

Lleyton Hewitt, however, had no such luck. Hewitt, the 2001 champion and 16th seed, was beaten by Argentine Agustin Calleri 6-4, 4-6, 4-6, 2-6.