Sharapova recovers to reach quarter-finals

NEW YORK, Sep 5 (Reuters) Third seed Maria Sharapova recovered from a slow start to beat China's Li Na 6-4 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals of the US Open.

Li, the first Chinese woman ever to make the last 16 at Flushing Meadows, raced to a 4-1 lead but Sharapova hit back strongly to wrap up victory in 78 minutes.

World number 22 Li forced Sharapova into several uncharacteristic errors early on but once the Russian found her range, the result was never in doubt.

Sharapova won five games in a row in the second set to seal victory and set up a match against Frenchwoman Tatiana Golovin, the 27th seed.

REUTERS DH PM0514