Open Day 7 highlights: Wozniacki tops Sharapova



   Match of the day -- In a battle of former No. 1 players, 10th-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark outslugged fifth-seeded Maria Sharapova of Russia 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 in high humidity in 2 hours, 37 minutes.

   Wozniacki, 24, advanced to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal since the 2012 Australian Open. Only one of the top six women's seeds, No. 1 Serena Williams, remains alive entering the second week.
   Upset of the day -- The men's draw, unlike the women's, has gone largely according to form. No. 4 David Ferrer of Spain became the first top-10 seed to fall, succumbing to No. 26 Gilles Simon of France 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 in the third round.
   Notable -- Belinda Bencic, 17, of Switzerland became the youngest U.S. Open quarterfinalist since her mentor, Martina Hingis, in 1997. Bencic ousted ninth-seeded Jelena Jankovic 7-6 (6), 6-3.

Caroline Wozniacki, practicing during the 2012 Austral-
ian Open, beat Maria Sharapova in a battle of former
No. 1 players. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Second-seeded Roger Federer lost the first 10 points in his 4-6, 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 victory over Marcel Granollers of Spain in the third round. Federer, a five-time U.S. Open champon, trailed 2-5 (one service break) in the first set when thunderstorms delayed the match for two hours.
   Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, a 32-year-old qualifier who had shocked second-seeded Simona Halep in the third round, lost to 13th-seeded Sara Errani 6-3, 2-6, 6-0. The 5-foot-4 1/2 (1.64-meter) Errani had four winners and nine errors to the 5-foot-11 (1.80-meter) Lucic-Baroni's 46 and 69, respectively.
   Men's seeded winners -- Federer, No. 6 Tomas Berdych, No. 7 Grigor Dimitrov, No. 14 Marin Cilic, No. 17 Roberto Bautista Agut, No. 20 Gael Monfils and Simon.
   Men's seeded losers -- Ferrer, No. 12 Richard Gasquet, No. 18 Kevin Anderson and No. 19 Feliciano Lopez.
   Women's seeded winners -- Wozniacki and Errani.
   Women's seeded losers -- Sharapova, Jankovic and No. 14 Lucie Safarova.
   Northern California connection -- Unseeded Americans Scott Lipsky, a 33-year-old former Stanford star, and Rajeev Ram surprised third-seeded Daniel Nestor of Canada and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia 6-3, 6-4 to reach the men's doubles quarterfinals. Nestor, who will turn 42 on Thursday, has won eight Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and the 38-year-old Zimonjic six.
   Michaela Gordon, 15, of Saratoga in the San Francisco Bay Area dominated Miriam Kolodziejova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-2 in the first round of girls singles. 
   Fast fact -- Wozniacki plans to run in the New York City Marathon on Nov. 2.
   Quote -- Wozniacki, on taking a break from marathon training during the U.S. Open: "I have a pretty big tournament here that I kind of want to try and win."