Maria Sharapova takes on Beatrice Capra in the third round of the US Open this afternoon.

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This match may prompt a little bit of deja vu for Sharapova who saw her US Open hopes crash and burn at this stage last year to another  teenage American starlet Melanie Oudin.
Sharapova had probably never heard of 18 year old Capra before this tournament but the world number 371 has fought her way through to the third round, hitting the headlines with her last round win over 18th seed Aravane Rezai.

Sharapova's performances so far will have rung warning bells with her camp, she looked out of sorts against Jarmila Groth in the first round and even though she defeated Iveta Benesova 6-1, 6-2 in round two, she committed a catalogue of unforced errors in the first set. It was only Benesova's inability to find the court herself that made the scoreline so one-sided.  

Capra is a dogged counter-puncher, against Rezai she let the Frenchwoman make her own downfall, retrieving ball after ball until Rezai blasted it long. It is a game plan which could also work for a short while against an erratic Sharapova. However Sharapova has more nous than Rezai and knows she does not need to go for screaming winners all the time. It will be a very big surprise if there's a repeat of last year.

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