Sharapova sails into French Open second round

Seventh seed Maria Sharapova encountered little resistance as she reached the second round of the French Open on Monday with a 6-1, 6-2 win over fellow Russian Ksenia Pervak. The 27-year-old needed only 27 minutes to wrap up the opening set as qualifier Pervak, the world number 156, was broken in all three of her service games. Sharapova, who has won all four Grand Slams including the French Open in 2012, rode a strong first serve throughout the match and pinned her opponent to the baseline with deep ground strokes. The Florida resident, who lost last year's final against Serena Williams, looked comfortable under cloudy conditions on the Philippe Chatrier court as she broke her opponent five times in total. Sharapova stays on course to face Williams, who won her opening match in straight sets on Sunday, in the quarter-finals. Pervak, who has also represented Kazakhstan, has never been past the first round at Roland Garros. Sharapova will now face Bulgaria's 2010 Wimbledon semi-finalist Tsvetana Pironkova for a place in the third round. Source: AFP