Sports

Rain delay fails to dampen Sharapova

Nadia Petrova was in command, holding a 2-0 lead over Maria Sharapova in the third set of their fourth-round match last night at the U.S. Open. But after rain stopped the match for more than an hour, Sharapova became the dominator, winning 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 to advance to the quarterfinals, and Petrova was none too pleased, calling it Sharapova’s “lucky day.”

“Great. I’m the winner, so whatever she wants to call it, it’s fine with me,” Sharapova said.

The back-and-forth match started with Sharapova cruising in the first set. She then fell behind quickly in the second set, 4-0, but was able to level the set at 4-4 before losing it 4-6. Petrova had all the momentum, taking a 2-0 lead — including nine straight points to begin the third set — before the rain came. The match was suspended for an hour and 13 minutes, and Sharapova showed why she is one of the best in the game, having already won the French Open and an Olympic silver medal this summer.

“I felt like I started getting a little bit of momentum back in the second set and then just didn’t really take my chances when I had them,” Sharapova said. “But I didn’t really mind. I have the experience of getting off the court and waiting a little bit and trying to start from scratch.”

When the match resumed, Sharapova won six of the next eight games to win the match, improving to 11-0 in three-set matches this year.

“It’s a nice statistic,” she said. “I don’t really think about it going into a new third-set situation. Whether it’s an hour or whether it’s three hours that you’re out there, I don’t want to give up until the last point. That’s pretty much the mentality I try to have going into a third set.”

After easy straight-set wins in her first three matches in which she only dropped a total of seven games, Sharapova was tested last night, and will face Marion Bartoli in the quarterfinals. Sharapova has not reached the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open since winning the title in 2006.

Despite the lengthy delay, Sharapova was happy many fans still stayed to cheer her on.

“I certainly felt that energy today, especially when we came back [from the delay],’’ she said. “Maybe just gave an opportunity for people to drink more so they’re more excited, but it was nice.’’

david.satriano@nypost.com