SHARAPOVA, KVITOVA LEAD WOMEN'S ADVANCE
PARIS, May 29, 2012 (AFP) – Three former women's grand slam champions and a young British hope reached the French Open second round on Tuesday as Rafael Nadal, seeking a record seventh men's crown, made his entrance.
Maria Sharapova whipped Romania's Alexandra Cadantu 6-0, 6-0 in just 48 minutes as the Russian second seed, seeking to lift the only major she has never won, cruised towards a meeting with Ja- pan's Ayumi Morita.
Morita defeated Polona Hercog of Slovenia 3-6, 6-4, 63.
Clad in black, and seeking her third claycourt title of the season, Sharapova overpowered her 74th-ranked rival who was facing a top ten opponent for the first time in a career which stalled in 2008 amid financial problems.
Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, the fourth-seeded Czech, thrashed Australia's Ashleigh Barty 6-1, 6-2 in 54 minutes to join Sharapova in the next round where she meets Urszula Radwanska of Poland.
Also marching on was 2010 champion Francesca Schiavone of Italy, seeded 14, who defeated Japanese veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm 63, 6-1.
Schiavone, 31 and last year's beaten finalist, advanced to a meeting with either Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium or Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria after ousting Date-Krumm – a decade her elder, who could not stay the pace after breaking serve in the opening game on a sparsely-populated but sunny Philippe Chatrier show court.
Guernsey-born Briton Heather Watson, who managed to reach the second round on her debut last year, thereby entering the top 100, got off to a flier against Russian Elena Vesnina, romping through her opening set before staying her ground to win 6-2, 6-4 to earn a match-up against Germany's 25th seed Julia Goerges.
Nadal beat Italian journeyman Simone Bolelli 62, 6-2, 6-1 while British fourth seed Andy Murray was starting his campaign against Japan's Tatsuma Ito.