Maria Sharapova didn’t perform at her best Friday night at the U.S. Open. Her serve was broken three times and the fifth seed committed 24 unforced errors in an up-and-down, straight-set, third-round victory, 6-2, 6-4, over No. 26 Sabine Lisicki of Germany.
But, the 2006 U.S. Open champion is still alive, which can’t be said for four of the top eight seeds in the women’s draw. On Friday alone, No. 2 Simona Halep and No. 6 Angelique Kerber fell in Flushing, while Sharapova rallied from a break down in the second set after breezing in a 40-minute first set against Lisicki, who ousted her in the first round at Wimbledon in 2012.
“There have been a few upsets,” Sharapova said. “I’m certainly happy I got through today.”
Up next for Sharapova will be 10th-seeded Caroline Wozniacki, her stiffest test in the tournament so far. A three-time semifinalist at the Open, Rory Mcllroy’s ex-girlfriend was a 6-3, 6-2 winner over No. 18 Andrea Petkovic.
“She’s having a really good summer so far, she’s really raising her level to where she wants it to be,” Sharapova said. “I expect a tough match, a physical match. She always makes you hit a lot of balls, gets a lot of balls back.”
The top 10 on the men’s side remained perfect, though No. 6 seed Tomas Berdych needed three hours and 37 minutes to dispatch of Slovak Martin Klizan in five sets, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
The bottom half of the ladies draw got blown wide open.
In addition to Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, who pulled off upset of the day in beating Halep, Belinda Bencic knocked off Kerber, a U.S. Open semifinalist in 2011, and Venus Williams lost to Sara Errani, a foe she has dominated throughout her career.
Bencic, the Swiss teen, paired great timing with a dangerous backhand to take the final five games of the match — saving five set points en route to a win.
“She played a good match, she’s a great player and she played from the first point very aggressive tennis to the end. She was fighting and [had] belief in her serve,’’ Kerber said. “But for me, I was not there in the first set. I tried in the second set and I had my chances, but in the end I was too passive and she took her chances.’’
Also, Shuai Peng upset No. 28 Roberta Vinci 6-4, 6-3, after already having eliminated No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska in the second round.
Roger Federer will be back in New York in March to compete in the annual BNP Paribas Challenge at the Garden, according to a tennis source. The opponent is still to be determined.
Federer has twice played the Garden in the BNP Paribas Showdown — against Andy Roddick in 2012 (a loss) and against a retired Pete Sampras in 2008.
Federer on Wednesday visited the Garden to finalize the agreement and meet with his friend, Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who plays at the John McEnroe Tennis Academy.
King Henrik presented the five-time King of the Open with a Rangers jersey with the “17’’ stitched onto it. The number signified his record-number of Grand Slam titles but he is a favorite in some circles to notch his 18th at the U.S. Open as second seed following Rafael Nadal’s decision to withdraw.
No. 4 David Ferrer reached the third round when Bernard Tomic withdrew with an injured left hip. Tomic had undergone surgery on both hips in January, and felt the left one flare up in the first round. It got worse on Friday.
“I’m feeling it inside, so I did the best thing: Not to play,’’ Tomic said. “I don’t want to muck around with that area. For sure something’s there. I’ve got to get it checked, got to get it analyzed the next few days. I’ve got to look into it and see what’s wrong, because I’m definitely feeling something in that area. For me, it’s not good right now. It’s painful.’’
Seventh-seeded Grigor Dimitrov beat Dudi Sela 6-1, 6-2, 6-2, and athletic No. 20 Gael Monfils cruised by Alejandro Gonzalez 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 in the second round.
James Blake will be in TWC Studio Sunday at 1 p.m., and again Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. to partake in a Q&A session with fans, answer tennis trivia, pose for photos and sign autographs .