Wozniacki disappointed but defiant after Open loss

A bitterly disappointed Caroline Wozniacki said she was leaving Melbourne Park with her head held high Friday, despite arch-rival Maria Sharapova ending her dream of defending the Australian Open title.

Sharapova upset her in a three-set thriller to reach the last 16 at the Dane's expense 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.

World number three Wozniacki spent more than a decade chasing her maiden Grand Slam and said it was tough to accept she was now out of the running to retain the trophy.

"I'm a competitor, I love to win, I hate to lose -- I hate losing more than I love winning," she said.

But the 28-year-old refused to beat herself up about the loss, saying she had left everything on the court in her third round clash against the Russian.

"Some days you lose," she said. "As long as you give it your all, as long as I fought for every point and was really trying to do everything in my power to win, I can't really blame myself.

"Of course, I'm disappointed that I'm not through to the fourth round... I did all I could and just came up short."
"It's a luxury for me to have achieved winning a slam and being number one and winning a lot of other tournaments."