Maria Sharapova survived a string of unforced errors to book her place in the third round of the French Open on Friday with a 6-2 6-4 rain-delayed win against Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard.
The defending champion, seeded second at Roland Garros, returned to Court Philippe Chatrier leading 6-2 4-2 after the match had been interrupted by rain late on Thursday.
Despite Bouchard’s late fight and a total of 28 unforced errors from the Russian, Sharapova wrapped it up in 15 minutes on her first match point.
She will face China’s Zheng Jie for a last-16 spot.
Serena Williams breezed past Sorana Cirstea 6-0 6-2, extending her winning streak to 27 matches and laying down a marker of her title potential.
It took eight games and 33 minutes before her 26th-seeded Romanian opponent made a mark on the scoreboard, a feat that was greeted with sympathetic cheers from the Parisian crowd.
The world number one broke three times in the opening set and although she found the going tougher in the second, losing two early games and facing break points, she had too much power for Cirstea.
The American has dropped a mere six games.
“Every Slam is really my priority,” said the 15-times major winner who has only won the French once. “I would love to win this one, but there is still a lot of people in the draw that would love to win this tournament.”
Williams, who won her only Roland Garros title in 2002, will play Italy’s Roberta Vinci in the next round after she beat Czech Petra Cetkovska 6-1 2-6 6-2.
Serena Williams breezed past Sorana Cirstea 6-0 6-2, extending her winning streak to 27 matches and laying down a marker of her title potential.
Three former women’s champions advanced. Ana Ivanovic beat Virginie Razzano 6-3 6-2 and Svetlana Kuznetsova reached the fourth round for the ninth time with a 6-4 7-6(2) defeat of Bojana Jovanovski.
A round back, 2010 champion Francesca Schiavone showed she is still a force on clay by ousting 21st seed Kirsten Flipkens 6-1 4-6 6-3.
Last year’s women’s runner-up Sara Errani maintained her impressive form to reach round four, the Italian fifth seed overcoming Germany’s Sabine Lisicki for the loss of four games.
Home hope Marion Bartoli, seeded 13th, battled past Colombian qualifier Mariana Duque 7-6 (5) 7-5 to set up a third-round clash with Schiavone.
Serena cruises past Cirstea
Serena Williams breezed past Sorana Cirstea 6-0 6-2, extending her winning streak to 27 matches and laying down a marker of her title potential.
Women’s results
Round 3
1-Serena Williams (U.S.) beat 26-Sorana Cirstea (Romania) 6-0 6-2
4-Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland) beat Dinah Pfizenmaier (Germany) 6-3 6-4
5-Sara Errani (Italy) beat 32-Sabine Lisicki (Germany) 6-0 6-4
8-Angelique Kerber (Germany) beat 29-Varvara Lepchenko (U.S.) 6-4 6-7(3) 6-4
14-Ana Ivanovic (Serbia) beat Virginie Razzano (France) 6-3 6-2
15-Roberta Vinci (Italy) beat Petra Cetkovska (CzechRepublic) 6-1 2-6 6-2
20-Carla Suarez Navarro (Spain) beat Monica Puig (Puerto Rico) 6-4 7-5
Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) beat Bojana Jovanovski (Serbia) 6-4 7-6(2)
Round 2:
2-Maria Sharapova (Russia) beat Eugenie Bouchard (Canada) 6-2 6-4
12-Maria Kirilenko (Russia) beat Ashleigh Barty (Australia) 6-3 6-1
13-Marion Bartoli (France) beat Mariana Duque (Colombia) 7-6(5) 7-5
Francesca Schiavone (Italy) beat 21-Kirsten Flipkens (Belgium) 6-1 4-6 6-3
Stefanie Voegele (Switzerland) beat Kaia Kanepi (Estonia) 7-6(6) 3-6 8-6
