DIVAS DANCE IN FRANCE
Sharapova and Muguruza advance; Shapovalov doesn’t stand a chance
Paris, May 31: Two-time champion Maria Sharapova edged closer to a possible French Open pre-quarterfinal duel with old rival Serena Williams on Thursday as top seed Simona Halep and 2016 winner Garbine Muguruza breezed into the third round.
Sharapova, the 2012 and 2014 champion in Paris, needed five match points to see off Croatia's Donna Vekic 7-5, 6-4 in a tie which featured 10 breaks of serve.
Former world number one Sharapova, seeded 28 this year, will face Czech sixth seed Karolina Pliskova for a place in the fourth round.
“She's playing great,” Sharapova told Eurosport Russia of Pliskova, a player she defeated in their only previous meeting in the 2015 Fed Cup final.
“She won a big title in Stuttgart, so I have to be ready to this match and I'll be ready,” she added.
Serena is a possible opponent but the three-time champion still has her second round to play against Australia’s Ashleigh Barty.
Sharapova is playing Roland Garros for the first time since 2015. The 31year-old was serving a doping ban in 2015 and was refused a wildcard by the organisers last year.
Serena is a three-time champion in Paris and playing her first Slam since winning the 2017 Australian Open.
Meanwhile, Halep reached the third round with a comfortable 6-3, 6-1 win over Taylor Townsend of the USA.
Halep, twice a runner-up in Paris, will face Germany's Andrea Petkovic for a place in the last 16.
Petkovic was a semifinalist in 2014 and was once ranked in the top 10 but has slipped to 107 after an injury-blighted few seasons.
Spanish third seed Garbine Muguruza, the 2016 champion, was too strong for France's number 257 Fiona Ferro 6-4, 6-3. “She was unknown to me. It's always tricky when you face a French, a young, talented player,” said Wimbledon champion Muguruza.
Rafa on rampage
On the men’s side, 10-time champion Rafael Nadal breezed into the third round and a clash against childhood friend Richard Gasquet on Thursday.
Top seed and world number one Nadal swept past Argentinian Guido Pella 62, 6-1, 6-1.
The 31-year-old will next face home favourite, and his old junior rival Gasquet, whom he has beaten 15 times from as many meetings in professional tennis.
However, highly-rated Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov was knocked out by Germany's Maximilian Marterer 5-7, 7-6 (7/4), 7-5, 6-4.
Title challengers Marin Cilic and Dominic Thiem struggled into the Last 32.
Third seed Cilic reached the third round for the eighth time with a 6-2, 6-2, 6-7 3/7), 7-5 win over Polish qualifier and world number 188 Hubert Hurkacz.
Seventh seeded Thiem racked up his 31st win of the year. The Austrian, the only man to beat world number one Nadal on clay this year, saw off Greek teenager Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-2, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.