Sharapova on a roll

NEW YORK (AP):

American upstart Beatrice Capra was blown away by the excellence of Maria Sharapova yesterday in blustery conditions caused by the remnants of Hurricane Earl.

Next up for the Russian former world No. 1 a fourth-round match against top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki, a 6-1, 6-0 winner over Chan Yung-jan of Taiwan.

In the men's draw, No. 2 Roger Federer overcame three break points in the final game to close out a 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Paul-Henri Mathieu, and set up a fourth-round meeting with Jurgen Melzer or Juan Carlos Ferrero.

"The wind, it was so hard," said Federer, in search of his sixth US Open title. "I'm really relieved I'm through."

However, fourth-seed Jelena Jankovic struggled in the conditions, losing 6-2, 7-6 (1) to No. 31 Kaia Kanepi.

Sharapova dealt with her opponent and the blustery wind with ease as she thumped the 18-year-old surprise package 6-0, 6-0.

"This is probably the toughest conditions we're going to get," Sharapova said. "But I think last year, it was a similar situation. Third round, quite windy. I had a young opponent who came out and played great tennis. Today, I wanted to make sure I came out, concentrated and was consistent."

It was no easy task on a day when Capra's visor was blown off her head and lets had to be called a number of times because of wind-whipped napkins, hot dog wrappers and towels blowing across the court.

Wild-card entry

Capra, however, never found the level she played at in her earlier wins over No. 95 Karolina Sprem and 18th-seeded Aravane Rezai.

A product of the Evert Academy, the 371st-ranked Capra received a call from tournament officials last month asking if she wanted a spot in a play-off for a wild-card entry. She won that to earn her first entry into the main draw of a tour-level event.

Capra said not even the double-bagel loss to Sharapova could ruin the experience.

"Playing against Maria in Arthur Ashe, yeah, I'd like to do better," she said. "But, you know, that was amazing.

"Before the match, she would just walk past me and kind of, like, give me a glare, which is kind of intimidating. After the match when we shook hands, she was really nice. She said, 'Great tournament. Keep up the hard work.' I think she's a really nice person."

Sharapova will face Wozniacki in a hotly anticipated fourth-round match. The top seed from Denmark, an Open runner-up last year, has lost a total of three games in three matches.

"I think it just says something about how I've been playing and the level I've been playing on," Wozniacki said. "It's nice."

Jankovic, a former world No. 1, complained about the conditions.

"You toss the ball, and it was all over the place," Jankovic said. "And then you hit the ball one direction, it goes another. You're just getting ready to hit the ball and it just moves away from you."