Maria Sharapova bid goodbye to her hopes of ruling the Australian Open 2014 after suffering an upset loss in the fourth round of this year's tournament in Melbourne.

The third-seeded Sharapova struggled with her serve as she absorbed a stunning 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 defeat to 20th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia in the fourth round of the 2014 Aussie Open.

Sharapova, who is coming off a shoulder injury that sidelined her for four months before making her comeback in Brisbane last month, showed strong form in the earlier part of the match.

However, the four-time major champion started showing signs of vulnerability when she was broken at love during the eighth game while serving for the set.

Sharapova managed to take the first set, but Cibulkova gained enough confidence from the Russian's late-first-set errors, racing to a huge 5-0 lead in the second set.

Sharapova answered with four straight wins, but Cibulkova held on to take the second set before completely dominating her heavily-favored opponent in the third set.

Despite suffering an early exit in a tournament in which she was expected to reach at least the semifinals, Sharapova expressed optimism, saying that the setback is just one of the hurdles in her return from a long layoff.

"I haven't been playing the best tennis of this tournament, but I found ways to get through to the last two matches. Tried to do that again today, but she played extremely well," Sharapova said after the game as reported by CNN.

Cibulkova, who only needed three-and-a-half hours to defeat her first three opponents, will make his first Australian Open quarterfinals appearance against Simona Halep. The 22-year-old Romanian earned a spot in the final eight with an impressive win over former world's No.1 player Jelena Jankovic in their fourth-round showdown.

Sharapova's surprise exit came less than 24 hours after top-ranked Serena Williams crashed out of the tournament.

Williams' quest to win her 18th Grand Slam title and her sixth Australian Open crown was ended by a determined Ana Ivanovic, who ran away with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, victory over the American tennis ace.

With Williams and Sharapova out of the tournament, second-seeded Victoria Azarenka is now the overwhelming favorite to lift the Aussie Open trophy for the third straight year.