Caroline Wozniaki moved effortlessly to the quarterfinals of the US Open with a 6-3, 6-4 defeat of Russian glamor girl Maria Sharapova on Thursday. (AP)

NEW YORK (AP) — After grinding out a victory over No. 13 Jurgen Meltzer, the names opposite Roger Federer's in the bracket will start looking more familiar. Maybe uncomfortably so.

The five-time U.S. Open winner beat Melzer, 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-3 Monday, for yet another straight-set victory at Flushing Meadows on Monday. Next up – a meeting with one of the few players who has enjoyed success against both Federer and Rafael Nadal on the sport's biggest stages.

That would be No. 5 Robin Soderling, who defeated No. 21 Albert Montanes 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 to reach the U.S. Open quarterfinals for the second straight year.

The runs at the U.S. Open are nice, but where Soderling has really made his name is against Nadal and Federer at recent French Opens.

He beat Federer at this year's French to end Fed's string of 23 straight Grand Slam semifinal appearances. Last year, Soderling notched a fourth-round victory over Nadal at Roland Garros that, coincidentally, simplified Federer's path to finally complete the career Grand Slam. With Nadal out of the way, Federer's opponent in last year's French final: Soderling.

The Swede, ranked a career-high fifth at this year's U.S. Open, is one of only two players (Juan Martin del Potro is the other) with Grand Slam victories over both of the world's top two players.

"I think it's always a very nice feeling to play against the world's best,'' Soderling said. ``It's matches like that that you train for. It's matches like that I've been dreaming of playing since I started playing tennis. You know, playing at the big courts in the big tournaments. It's very fun.''

So far, Federer has been enjoying his stay at Flushing Meadows, where he has won 44 of his last 45 matches _ the only loss coming to del Potro in last year's final. The second set of the Melzer match offered some perspective into how difficult it can be to break through against the player with a record 16 major titles.

Federer admits he is taking nothing for granted against Soderling, whose victory at the French this year was the first in 13 meetings between the players.

The match came after a rainstorm, when the red clay at Roland Garros was moist and slow. Still, Federer knows, a win is a win.

In the quarterfinal opposite Federer-Soderling, No. 3 Novak Djokovic will play No. 17 Gael Monfils. Djokovic dispatched No. 19 Mardy Fish 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 to leave only one American man in the draw, No. 20 Sam Querrey.

Querrey plays No. 25 Stanislas Wawrinka on Tuesday in a quarter of the draw that doesn't have a top-10 seed left.

In the featured women's match Monday, No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki defeated No. 14 Maria Sharapova 6-3, 6-4 in a match that saw Sharapova commit 36 unforced errors to only 10 from Wozniacki.

In other words, Sharapova did what everyone does when they play ``Woz'' – the human backboard.

Not that there's anything wrong with that, said Wozniacki.

"I think that's great tennis when there are good rallies,'' she said.

US Open results
Women 4th round
Dominika Cibulkova bt Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-5, 7-6 (7/4); Kaia Kanepi bt Yanina Wickmayer 0-6, 7-6 (7/2), 6-1; Caroline Wozniacki bt Maria Sharapova 6-3, 6-4; Vera Zvonareva bt Andrea Petkovic 6-1, 6-2

Men 4th round
Gael Monfils bt Richard Gasquet 6-4, 7-5, 7-5; Novak Djokovic bt Mardy Fish 6-3, 6-4, 6-1; Robin Soderling bt Albert Montanes 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3; Roger Federer bt Jurgen Melzer 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3