By Larry Fine
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Maria Sharapova joined a stampede of easy center court winners at the U.S. Open on Thursday when the former champion trampled Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic 6-1 6-2 to reach the third round.
The 2006 Open winner did not face a single break point in her demolition of 68th-ranked Benesova who contributed 26 unforced errors to her own demise.
Wearing a black and blue ensemble, the 14th-seeded Sharapova bruised the Czech's defense with 16 winners, including three aces.
The Russian, who followed women's top seed Caroline Wozniacki and five-time U.S. men's winner Roger Federer with an easy straight-sets win on center court, will next play American wildcard Beatrice Capra, who upset 18th seed Aravane Rezai of France.
(Reporting by Larry Fine, Editing by Frank Pingue)
