Maria Sharapova beats Jelena Ostapenko in straight sets

Reuters - Maria Sharapova continued to enjoy working the U.S. Open night shift with a 6-3 6-2 humbling of 10th seeded Latvian Jelena Ostapenko on Saturday, improving her record to 22-0 under the Arthur Ashe Stadium floodlights. There is no denying Sharapova's love for the big stage or the New York crowd's love for her and the five-time Grand Slam champion admitted that she feeds off the buzz. Even if the match was played at night there was no masking the poor quality of the opening set that featured four breaks of serve. Ostapenko, who was the runaway leader in double faults at this year's final Grand Slam, had three alone in her opening service game but was not punished for her sloppiness with Sharapova unable to convert any of five break chances. Eventually, Sharapova would cash in on Ostapenko's generosity with the Latvian offering up 11 break opportunities and the Russian converting three - more than enough to take the first set. The nightmare serving continued into the second set with four consecutive breaks before Sharapova finally managed a hold for 3-2. Ostapenko, however, would not manage to hold her serve at any point in the set and Sharapova broke the 2017 French Open champion twice more to clinch the victory. The 31-year-old will meet Carla Suarez Navarro in the last 16 after the Spaniard upset French sixth seed Caroline Garcia 5-7 6-4 7-6(4).