Paris: Defending Champion Maria Sharapova cruised into the second round of French Open on Monday as she defeated Taiwan’s Hseih Su-Wei with 6-2,6-1. She will now take on Canadian Eugenie Bouchard to book a place in last 32.
Second seed Russian took just 54 minutes to wind up the opening match against the World Number 42. Russian dropped just eight points on serve to ease into the French Open second round. Sharapova was at her very best when it came to serves and unforced errors. She fired 25 winners to Hseih's eight and kept her unforced errors to just four against 24.
Hsieh Su-Wei has now played five times at Roland Garros and been beaten in the first round on each occasion.
Last year itself, Sharapova completed a career Grand Slam in Paris in 2012 with her Roland Garros triumph.
Nadal, Federer in second round
Rafael Nadal had a tough start to his opening round in French Open here on Monday as he was tested by the German, Daniel Brands in the match that lasted for 2hours and 54 minutes but Nadal finally won it by 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4, 6-3.
The Spaniard, who won a record seventh French Open title last year, improved his winning record to 53-1 at Roland Garros.
Nadal lagged when he lost the first set by 4-6 after he was broken in the ninth game and was looking in a bit of trouble even in the second set. But he beckoned some of the best-shot that he has in his armoury which helped him seal the set with 7-6 (4).
Spaniard had a terrific start of the third set as he won the first two games but German bounced back well and reduced the lead to 2-3. But Nadal didn’t give him much of a breathing space and showed his dominance by winning the third set with 6-4.
Fortunes started smiling at Nadal as the match went into the fourth set. He won that final set with 6-3 and made his way to the second round. He's 37-2 since returning in February after a seven-month layoff because of a left knee injury, reaching the finals at all eight previous tournaments he played this year and winning six.
Meanwhile, Roger Federer had a brilliant start to his campaign of French Open as he swept Pablo Carreno Busta on Sunday in the first round of the French Open, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3.
This was the 15th time that Federer was marking his presence at Roland Garros. The Swiss star lost just seven points on his first serve and was just broken once by Busta. He taped up the match with his scenic backhand which received the biggest roar from the crowd.
The Spaniard made his Grand Slam debut after winning seven back to back Future Events. Meanwhile, Federer has remained unbeaten in first-round matches at major tournaments since 2003.