Beatrice Capra follows through during her three-set win over Aravane Rezai at the U.S. Open on Thursday. Beatrice Capra follows through during her three-set win over Aravane Rezai at the U.S. Open on Thursday. (Kathy Willens/Associated Press)

Beatrice Capra has a shot at becoming the American teen sweetheart at this year's U.S. Open.

Capra, ranked 371st in the world, prevailed by scores of 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 on Thursday over No. 18 Aravane Rezai of France in second-round action at the Grand Slam event.

It was the second upset of the week for the 18-year-old born in Baltimore City, Md., who has achieved success on the junior circuit and is affectionately called "Tricey" by those close to her. Earlier this week, she knocked off solid veteran Karolina Sprem of Croatia.

She needed to win a playoff last week to earn a wild-card berth into the tournament.

"Every time I've just been given a wild card, I never do well," Capra said. "I like earning everything."

Canadian results

Peter Polansky was bounced from the second round in New York Thursday evening.

James Blake of the U.S. defeated Polansky 6-7 (1-7), 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 to eliminate the Canadian.

"I think the first set was a little bit tough for both of us," said Polansky. "We were both struggling a bit with our returns, and I played a great tiebreaker to win that first set. and the wind kind of calmed down, and he picked up his level for sure and he was returning much better."

Polansky, from Thornhill, Ont., was coming off a big win over Juan Monaco of Argentina earlier in the week, his first Grand Slam main draw victory.

"It's been an exciting two weeks playing through (qualifying) and winning my three rounds there and then playing my two matches here," he said. "You don't get to play many matches like that, especially night match against James Blake and with an amazing crowd in front of a lot of people. It was a really great experience."

In men's doubles action, Toronto's Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia defeated American Eric Butorac and Jean-Julien Rojer of Netherlands Antilles, 7-6 (6), 6-3 in a first-round match.

Nester and Zimonjic next face Maximo Gonzalez of Argentina and Santiago Ventura of Spain

In women's doubles play, Monica Niculescu of Romania and Shahar Peer of Israel defeated Marie-Eve Pelletier of Repentigny, Que., and Michaella Krajicek of the Netherlands 7-6 (4), 6-4.

Last year, then 18-year-old Melanie Oudin won over many tennis fans at the Flushing Meadows, N.Y., event by reaching the quarter-finals. The American wasn't able to duplicate that success this week, losing to Alona Bondarenko.

"I watched every second of it," Capra said of Oudin's performance last year.

Capra first must get past the third round. She will next face former Open champion Maria Sharapova, the No. 4 seed.

"When I was younger, I used to always look up to her," Capra said of Sharapova, "and so I think it will be a really good match for me to see where I am compared to that kind of level."

Sharapova advanced to the next round with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic.

The match at Grandstand Stadium turned in the eighth game of the final set when Rezai couldn't hold serve, falling behind by two games.

Top women's seed Caroline Wozniacki blitzed Kai-chen Chang 6-0, 6-0 in just 47 minutes. The Chinese player won seven games against the Dane earlier this year but was helpless at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

No. 4 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia survived the challenge of Croatian Mirjana Lucic, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2. The match turned for good when Lucic trailed 3-2 and proceeded to lose her serve.

It was the highest-profile match for Lucic, now 28, in the U.S. in some time. She made a splash on the circuit as a teen in the mid-to-late 1990s but became the unwitting poster child for players with domineering parents.

She publicly accused her father of physical abuse and financial improprieties and even quit the game for four years before launching a comeback in 2009.

No. 11 Svetlana Kuznetsova and fellow Russian, seventh seed Vera Zvonareva and No. 15 Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium all advanced without dropping a set.

Wickmayer will take on Swiss veteran Patty Schnyder, who upended No. 22 Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain 7-6 (2), 6-4.

Rezai and Sanchez weren't the only seeded player to be eliminated Thursday: No. 9 Agnieszka Radwanska lost to Peng Shuai, and No. 22 Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez lost to Patty Schnyder.

Chang trounced

The heat that has gripped the tournament through four days began to wane a bit in the mid-afternoon, with unpredictable winds picking up.

Roger Federer had little trouble in his first career match against Andreas Beck of Germany. The Swiss star, looking for his seventh consecutive final and sixth victory overall in New York, won 6-3, 6-4, 6-3.

"I got a sense for how the court speed is again. I got the sense of the crowd and the wind now, as well. I played one night, one day," Federer said. "I have all the answers after two matches."

Federer will next take on Paul-Henri Mathieu of France.

Kei Nishikori of Japan pulled off the upset, eliminating No. 11 Marin Cilic of Croatia 5-7, 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-1. Cilic needed help from training staff in the final set of a match that lasted one minute shy of five hours, while Nishikori admitted he was cramping up during the latter stages of the battle.

"It was very humid. It wasn't easy to get the oxygen," said Cilic, a quarter-finalist last year in New York.

No. 6 Nikolay Davydenko was shown the way out in much quicker fashion, with Frenchman Richard Gasquet pounding out a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win.

Fifth seed Robin Soderling of Sweden was not troubled at all by American Taylor Dent, who appeared disinterested. The two-time French Open finalist was a 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 victor.

No. 13 Jurgen Melzer of Austria, No. 19 Mardy Fish of the U.S., and No. 21 Albert Montanes of Spain also advanced.

In the final match of the day, No. 3 Novak Djokovic of Serbia defeated 52nd-ranked Philipp Petzschner of Germany 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (6).

Djokovic will meet American James Blake in the third round.

With files from The Associated Press