NEW YORK -- American upstart Beatrice Capra got blown away Saturday -- by the excellence of Maria Sharapova and the bad, blustery conditions caused by the remnants of Hurricane Earl.
Treating the wind and an opponent with nothing to lose as mere annoyances, Sharapova put a 6-0, 6-0 thumping on Capra at the U.S. Open, ending the 18-year-old's attempt to fashion a 2010 version of the Melanie Oudin story.
Last year in the third round, 17-year-old Oudin went into Arthur Ashe Stadium and beat Sharapova -- a remarkable moment on the way to the young American's trip to the quarterfinals.
This year, it was the same round and same court. But on a day better suited for flying a kite than hitting tennis balls, Capra never came close to duplicating that script.
"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 got blown off her head early and lets had to be called a number of times because of wind-whipped napkins, hot dog wrappers and towels blowing around.
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