NEW YORK ? Known for atmosphere-negating strolls to the back of the court between points, Maria Sharapova is the queen of compartmentalization. On court, nothing intrudes.
Apparently that includes her personal life.
After bulldozing NCAA finalist Mallory Burdette 6-1, 6-1 on Friday at Arthur Ashe Stadium, the No. 3 seed from Russia confirmed speculation lighting up the Twittersphere that she had broken off her engagement to ex-Los Angeles Lakers forward Sasha Vujacic.
"I was waiting for someone to actually ask me that question, but nobody did directly," the 25-year-old said in response to a news reporter's question.
She added: "I have never really been the person to announce things. I never announced when we were together or never announced that we were engaged. I never have in any of my previous relationships, as well."
Her separation from Vujacic was no secret to other women on tour.
"A lot of players already noticed he didn't show up at any tournaments this year, especially the European tournaments, and you don't see the ring so much on her hand," said fourth-round opponent Nadia Petrova of Russia, who beat Czech Lucie Safarova 6-4, 7-5, also Friday. "It's kind of been obvious."
2006 U.S. Open champion Sharapova said the breakup with Vujacic, playing professionally in Turkey, occurred at the end of spring. She called it a "challenging decision from both of our ends," but it hasn't had much impact on her tennis.
The four-time Grand Slam winner has had her best season since coming back from shoulder surgery in 2009.
In June, she completed a career Grand Slam by winning the French Open and briefly retook the No. 1 ranking. In early August, she picked up a singles silver medal in the London Olympics.
Off the court, the woman ranked by Forbes magazine as the highest-earning female athlete (2011 figure: $27.9 million) has been busy launching her new candy line, Sugarpova, which debuted Aug. 20.
Sharapova came down with a stomach virus after Wimbledon, which prevented her from playing hardcourt tune-up events before the U.S. Open. She last played on cement in the Sony Ericsson Open in March.
But lack of match play so far has been the right recipe: Sharapova has dropped eight games in her first three matches, the fewest in her career here, including her title run in 2006.
"I didn't know too much going into this event because I hadn't played on hard in a few months," she said. "I think that made me extra focused, and I wanted to really get going from the beginning and be aggressive."
After the London Games, where she lost in the final to Serena Williams, she also took a break at home to recharge her batteries.
"Certainly feel a lot more energy than I did maybe after the French," she said.
Though Sharapova has reached at least the fourth round in eight of her last nine majors, she hasn't gone that far in New York since 2010.
Petrova, seeded 19th, trails Sharapova 8-1 in career meetings, her sole win coming in 2007 when awarded a walkover.
Petrova said the key would be her serve and return, to put pressure on Sharapova and hope "she comes up with some double faults."
That's a risky strategy against an opponent so skilled at keeping distractions out of her head.
"She's done that well," Petrova agreed.
Source: http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodayTennis-TopStories/~3/51GR2iQlv3s/1
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