Sharapova lights up US Open by downing Ostapenko

New York - Maria Sharapova's love affair with New York nights continued Saturday as the 2006 US Open champion swept past 10th-seeded Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-2 and into the fourth round at Flushing Meadows.

Sharapova is now undefeated in 22 night matches at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

"There's no doubt I feed off this energy," Sharapova said. "We all spend so much time on the back courts with our teams practicing.

"When you get a chance to come out here why not give everything that you have."

After some shaky moments in her first two matches, Sharapova charged through the opening set, aided by 27 unforced errors from 2017 French Open champion Ostapenko.

Ostapenko cut that down in the second, but she couldn't halt five-time Grand Slam winner Sharapova, aiming to bounce back from a first-round loss at Wimbledon this year that was followed by injury withdrawals from tournaments in San Jose and Cincinnati.

Sharapova next faces Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro, who ousted sixth-seeded Caroline Garcia of France 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4).

US Open results on Saturday, the sixth day of the 2018 tournament at Flushing Meadows (x denotes seeded player):

Men

3rd round

David Goffin (BEL x10) bt Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) 6-4, 6-1, 7-6 (7/4)

Kei Nishikori (JPN x21) bt Diego Schwartzman (ARG x13) 6-4, 6-4, 5-7, 6-1

Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) bt Alexander Zverev (GER x4) 6-7 (1/7), 6-4, 6-1, 6-3

Novak Djokovic (SRB x6) bt Richard Gasquet (FRA x26) 6-2, 6-3, 6-3

Joao Sousa (POR) bt Lucas Pouille (FRA x17) 7-6 (7/5), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/5)

John Millman (AUS) bt Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3

Roger Federer (SUI x2) bt Nick Kyrgios (AUS x30) 6-4, 6-1, 7-5

Women

3rd round

Carla Surez Navarro (ESP x30) bt Caroline Garcia (FRA x6) 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4)

Maria Sharapova (RUS x22) bt Jelena Ostapenko (LAT x10) 6-3, 6-2

Madison Keys (USA x14) bt Aleksandra Krunic (SRB) 4-6, 6-1, 6-2

Dominika Cibulkova (SVK x29) bt Angelique Kerber (GER x4) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3

Aryna Sabalenka (BLR x26) bt Petra Kvitova (CZE x5) 7-5, 6-1

Naomi Osaka (JPN x20) bt Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR) 6-0, 6-0

Marketa Vondrousova (CZE) bt Kiki Bertens (NED x13) 7-6 (7/4), 2-6, 7-6 (7/1)

Lesia Tsurenko (UKR) bt Katerina Siniakov (CZE) 6-4, 6-0