Sharapova knocked out in Auckland

Top seed Maria Sharapova's flirtation with the New Zealand public came to a premature end on Thursday with a surprising 6-2, 7-5 loss to unseeded Hungarian Greta Arn in the quarter-finals of the Auckland Classic.

The three-times Grand Slam winner, who had struggled with her rhythm in the second round on Wednesday, made numerous unforced errors against the 31-year-old Arn and crashed out in a match lasting 91 minutes.

Sharapova's presence had helped effectively sell-out the tournament by the first day and her defeat disappointed those hoping for a final against champion and second seed Yanina Wickmayer.

Wickmayer had earlier made sure of her place in the semi-finals when she easily beat Romania's Simona Halep 6-0, 6-2 in a little over an hour in the first match on centre court.