French Open: Sharapova crushes Diatchenko to sail into third round

Defending champion Maria Sharapova moved easily into the third round of the French Open with a 6-3 6-1 defeat of fellow Russian Vitalia Diatchenko on Wednesday. The world number two, wearing a long-sleeved top despite the warm temperatures on Court Philippe Chatrier possibly due to the cold she has been suffering from, took a while to get into her stride but romped away from her 91st-ranked opponent. [caption id=“attachment_2265596” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Maria Sharapova returns a shot during her Women’s Singles match against Vitalia Diatchenko of Russia. Getty[/caption] Sharapova, who has won two of the last three French Opens and was beaten by Serena Williams in the 2013 final, broke serve in the first game but a double fault gifted Diatchenko a break back to 2-2. Diatchenko then coughed up two double faults in the next game to hand the advantage back to Sharapova and another double fault brought a lukewarm first set to a conclusion. Sharapova then powered through the second set in 35 minutes, offering up few errors. Things will toughen up for the five-times grand slam champion in the next round when she faces Australia’s Samantha Stosur, the runner-up in 2010 and twice a semi-finalist, who she beat in the fourth round last year. Reuters