Maria Sharapova is through to the fourth round of the U.S. Open, and more to the point fellas, she’s single again. The third-seeded Sharapova drilled Stanford student Mallory Burdette 6-1, 6-1 at Arthur Ashe Stadium yesterday, then confirmed her engagement with ex-NBA player Sasha Vujacic was off.

“It’s been since the end of spring actually,’’ Sharapova said. “I’ve never really been the person to announce things. I never announced when we were together or that we were engaged. I never have in any of my previous relationships. It’s not the type of person I am or the way I like to go about things. I’m not an announcer, I don’t go and do interviews about it or photo ops.’’

Give Sharapova this much — she knows how to compartmentalize. She hasn’t seemed distracted this year, winning the French Open, carrying the flag for Russia in the London Olympics and showing stellar form so far in Flushing Meadows.

This is the Grand Slam that has troubled Sharapova the most since her 2006 title, but she has dropped just seven games through her first three matches this week to reach the Round of 16 for only the second time in six years. Clearly the change in her personal life hasn’t impacted her professional one.

“It was obviously a challenging decision from both of our ends,” Sharapova said of Vujacic, who won two titles with the Lakers and also played for the Nets during the 2010-11 season. “It was a really nice period of time for both of us, but our career schedules just made it extremely difficult to see each other with the traveling, and especially his career move to Turkey.

“The playing there was a little bit different, he wasn’t able to travel much. He wasn’t home one time during the ten months that he was in Turkey, so that made it extremely difficult. But we have a tremendous amount of respect for each other, still would love to call him as a friend. We spent really great years together.’’

Despite one of her usual minor hiccups on her serve, Sharapova appeared fresh and rested. She won 12 of the last 13 games yesterday and needed under an hour to dispatch NCAA singles runner-up Burdette.

“It was pretty amazing,” Burdette said. “At times I didn’t do as well with my rituals between points, just because I was a little bit flustered. I felt like it was a big moment, but I think it was a great learning experience for me and hopefully next time I’ll be able to handle it.”

The psychology major took note of Sharapova’s “intensity out there on the court every single point. You feel her presence.’’

Burdette, who registered for the Open as an amateur, thus won’t get a penny of her winnings, said she plans to return to Stanford for her senior year, albeit with more of a professional attitude. As far as medical school — she wants to be psychiatrist — that may have to wait awhile.

“I’d like to think I could be a top-50 player, and from there it’s just a matter of how hard I want to work and how far I want to take it,’’ Burdette said. “But I’d say my focus going forward will definitely shift to being the best tennis player I can be.’’

brian.lewis@nypost.com

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Sasha Vujacic and Maria Sharapova in happier days. (Getty Images)Tune up those backhands, gentlemen. Maria Sharapova is back on the market.

After taking down Mallory Burdette in straight 6-1 sets on Friday in the third round of the U.S. Open, Sharapova revealed that her engagement to — indeed, her entire relationship with — former Laker Sasha Vujacic is finis. And she did so via what must be a first with celebrity engagement breakups: not only did she not dodge the question, she wondered why it hadn’t been asked before:

“It’s been since the end of spring actually,” Sharapova said. “I was waiting for someone to actually ask me that question, but nobody did directly.”

Sharapova was able to remain focused on tennis, winning the French Open earlier this season to complete a career Grand Slam. She’s now in the round of 16 in the U.S. Open for only the second time since winning the Open in 2006.

The culprit behind the breakup? The dueling career demands of two globetrotting athletes. “It was a really nice period of time for both of us, but our career schedules just made it extremely difficult to see each other with the traveling, and especially his career move to Turkey,” she said. “He wasn’t home one time during the 10 months that he was in Turkey, so that made it extremely difficult.” Vujacic had played for the Lakers from 2004 to 2010 and for New Jersey in the 2010-11 season, but left the NBA to play professionally in Turkey last season.

Sharapova added that she still respects Vujacic and hopes to remain friends, which, while a nice thought, may be a tougher trick to pull off than winning the U.S. Open.

The couple had planned to marry in November in Turkey. Best wishes for both in their future romantic endeavors.

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