Caroline Wozniacki takes down Maria Sharapova in straight sets

 Wozniacki, the world and tournament No. 1, played a steady, strong match while Sharapova, the 2006 champion, sprayed her powerful shots all over Ashe Stadium in a 6-3, 6-4 win. Wozniacki moves on to the quarterfinals to face unseeded Dominika Cibulkova.

The starkest numbers were the unforced errors: Just 10 for Wozniacki to 36 for Sharapova, who still strikes the ball as hard as any woman on tour, but without much direction on this day.

Wozniacki was the runner-up a year ago and has returned as far from a surprise; she had lost just three games in her first three matches coming into her marquee fourth-round showdown with Sharapova.

Sharapova still has the star appeal, and she's only 23, but the wins at Wimbledon in 2004 and here in 2006 seem to get farther and farther from view. Since she won the 2008 Australian Open, Sharapova hasn't been past the quarterfinals of her last nine Grand Slam appearances, having missed the 2008 Open with a shoulder injury.

Wozniacki's path to a second straight final is quite clear, with the unseeded and unheralded Cibulkova up next and either Kaia Kanepi or the winner of tonight's Vera Zvonareva/Andrea Petkovic match in the semifinals.