New York ? Wispy Maria Sharapova was one strong gust away from getting knocked over, though not out, at the U.S. Open.

“I’m really glad I had a piece of chocolate cake last night,” she joked, “otherwise I would have been blown away. It made me heavier.”

Nearly as thin as her racket, the top-seeded Sharapova had more trouble with gales up to 36 mph playing tricks with the balls than she did with any of the shots by Dally Randriantefy in a 6-1, 6-0 rout Wednesday that took all of 49 minutes.

“The first few games, I was serving 69 miles per hour,” Sharapova said. “It’s pretty funny. I think it’s even funnier from TV because they can’t see the wind. These people probably think we look like beginners.”

A trailing front from remnants of Hurricane Katrina blew through the Open, the sun played peekaboo all day, dark clouds came and went after morning rain, and the lingering heat and humidity continued to test the mettle of players.

No. 4 Kim Clijsters won again in straight sets, as did two-time former champion, No. 8 Serena Williams and No. 10 seed Venus Williams. In men’s matches, former champ and No. 3 seed Lleyton Hewitt won in straight sets, and No. 15 Dominik Hrbaty, No. 17 David Ferrer and No. 25 Taylor Dent all advanced.

“It was deathly windy,” Venus Williams said, exaggerating a bit after beating Russian Maria Kirilenko, 6-1, 6-3. “It didn’t choose a direction. It was just swirling at random.”

Williams is one victory away from playing her sister Serena, a 6-2, 6-2 victor over Catalina Castano of Colombia in the night session.