Denmark`s Caroline Wozniacki sent Maria Sharapova packing at the US Open on Sunday, reaching the quarter-finals with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 win over the five-time Grand Slam champion.
The defeat ends French Open winner Sharapova`s bid to claim a second major title in a single year for the first time in her career.
Sharapova, who won the US Open in 2006, took a 5-2 record over the Dane into the fourth-round clash on a steamy Arthur Ashe Stadium court.
Three of those victories had come since Wozniacki last beat her in 2011.
“It means so much to me,” said Wozniacki, the 2009 runner-up who reached the semi-finals in 2010 and 2011 but hadn`t been past the third round at Flushing Meadows the last two years.
“It`s been a bit up and down for me this season,” she said. “To win today against a champion like Maria is an unbelievable feeling.”
The match was played out in punishing humidity, with the players allowed a break in the locker room between the second and third sets.
Wozniacki seized a 3-1 lead with a break in the fourth game, and broke Sharapova again to seal it after two and a half hours.
Wozniacki will face 13th-seeded Italian Sara Errani for a place in the semi-finals.
