Sharapova suffers early exit in Beijing

Maria Sharapova crashed out of the China Open on Tuesday, with the former world No. 1 suffering her second consecutive early exit.

The 12th seed, beaten in her opening game in the Japan last week, lost to fellow Russian Elena Vesnina in the second round to follow defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova and last year's runner-up Agnieszka Radwanska in departing the $4.5 million Beijing event.

Vesnina -- who lost their only other meeting at the 2008 Australian Open, which Sharapova won for her third grand slam title -- triumphed 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 to set up a clash with Switzerland's Timea Bacsinszky.

"I'm definitely not as good as I wanted to be," Sharapova told the WTA Tour website. "After the U.S. Open I wasn't able to train as much as I would've wanted to, and I feel like the last couple of weeks I've just been trying to play catch-up.

After the U.S. Open I wasn't able to train as much as I would've wanted to, and I feel like I've been trying to play catch-up

"My rhythm hasn't been where it should be. Obviously it's disappointing, but I've lost and won many matches in my career. I'll just have to regroup and move forward."

The 21-year-old Bacsinszky progressed when eighth seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus withdrew with a leg injury, trailing 3-2 in the second set after winning the opener 6-4.