Russian top seed Maria Sharapova dished out a 6-0, 6-1 defeat to Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova in the second round to cruise into the WTA Paris Open quarter-finals on Wednesday.
A shock fourth-round loser at the season-opening Grand Slam the Australian Open in Melbourne earlier this month Sharapova regained the winning thread at the Stade Coubertin, a short serve and volley away from Roland Garros where she won the French Open title in 2012.
Sharapova's Melbourne campaign was just her second event since a shoulder injury ended the 26-year-old world number five's 2013 season in August, a setback which also ruled her out of the US Open.
Hantuchova had a disastrous start, picking up just one point in the first two games, then none in the fourth and fifth games to trail 5-0 after a mere 15 minutes.
She failed to convert her first three set points, clinching it on the fourth attempt to claim the opening set after 25 minutes.
It was more of the same in the second set with Sharapova racing to a 2-0 lead before, after 39 minutes play and to the delight of the crowd Hantuchova claimed her one and only game.
Sharapova next faces the winner of the second round clash between Austria's Yvonne Meusburger and Kirsten Flipkens, the eighth-seeded Belgian who knocked out defending champion Mona Barthel in three sets in the first round.
Source: AFP
