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Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark - Source: Reuters -
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Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark elicited a barrel full
of errors from former champion Maria Sharapova to post a 6-3 6-4
victory today and advance to the quarter-finals of the US
Open.
Wozniacki, runner-up last year to Kim Clijsters, showed poise and
patience as she engaged the Russian 14th seed in rallies and waited
for mistakes, which came on groundstrokes from both wings and
frequently on the Russian's serves.
Sharapova, 23, also slugged her share of winners, belting 32,
mostly from her powerful forehand, but she gave more than that away
on errors in a hard-fought match that produced some scintillating
exchanges.
Three-time grand slam winner Sharapova, the 2006 US Open champion,
committed 36 unforced errors including nine double faults, two of
which closed service breaks.
"It was a real tough match," the 20-year-old Wozniacki told the
Arthur Ashe center court crowd after blowing kisses to the fans and
showing off her bright yellow fingernails.
"Maria is a great player so I knew it wasn't going to be
easy."
Wozniacki, who had only lost three games in her first three
victories, said her ride to the final last year helped her deal
with the pressure of facing former world number one
Sharapova.
"I got a lot of experience from last year, so it definitely helped
me in the match today."
The Dane took the upper hand in the first set in the fourth game
when Sharapova, leading 40-30, double-faulted three times in a row
to give Wozniacki a 3-1 lead.
Sharapova poured herself into the seventh game, hauling herself
back into the set on her sixth break point to make it 4-3.
Perhaps exhausted by the effort, the Russian gave the break right
back at love in the next game and Wozniacki clinched the set
against the battling Sharapova on her third set point.
The only service break of the second set came in the seventh game
when Wozniacki took a 4-3 lead on another double fault from the
Russian.
Sharapova, crushing forehands, saved a match point to hold serve at
5-4, but Wozniacki rose up with her first volley winner and
followed with a sizzling backhand to close out the match on her
serve.
The victory put Wozniacki into the quarters against world number 45
Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia, the lowest ranked player remaining
in the women's draw.
