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Maria Sharapova Out in the Fourth Round of Wimbledon, Tournament Becomes a Little Less Attractive — to Watch

The last time a woman won the French Open and Wimbledon back-to-back was Serena Williams a decade ago in 2002.

The tennis world is still wanting for such a feat, as last month's Open winner, Maria Sharapova, bowed out of Wimbledon early Monday, losing her fourth round match to Sabine Lisicki of Germany in straight sets. Dirk Nowitzki was even in the crowd cheering his country(woman) on to victory over the favored Russian. Hmm, Russia and Germany going head-to-head. It seems like we've heard that scenario before.

In any case, the loss drops Sharapova out of the no. 1 ranking in tennis, meaning the loss of a little star power on the women's end of things while guys like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddick duke it out on the men's side.

In a post-match news conference, Sharapova didn't appear to be handling the loss particularly well, her eyes swelling up a bit. But her words certainly didn't match her body language, as she extolled the value of staying positive and mostly gave credit to her opponent for a well-deserved victory.

The loss may take away a few viewers from the tournament, as Sharapova's the kind of household name that tends to bring in the more casual fans, and — let's face it — fans of attractive female athletes.

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