French Open: Sharapova shines, Simona Halep stunned

Maria Sharapova brushed aside fellow Russian Vitalia Diatchenko, while Simona Halep became the day's biggest casualty at the French Open yesterday

Paris: Maria Sharapova brushed aside fellow Russian Vitalia Diatchenko, while Simona Halep became the day's biggest casualty at the French Open yesterday.


Maria Sharapova returns to Vitalia Diatchenko 

Sharapova, who was champion at Roland Garros in 2012 and runner-up in 2013, defeated Diatchenko 6-3, 6-1 to set up a clash with former finalist Samantha Stosur in the third round.

The second seed exchanged breaks with her Fed Cup teammate early on but went on to win the opener 6-3, Diatchenko double-faulting on set point.


Simona Halep returns to Croatia's Mirjana Lucic-Baroni yesterday 

Sharapova then broke early in the second set to lead 2-0, and although Diatchenko saved a first match point to pull it back to 5-1, she could not stop her compatriot winning the next game.

Meanwhile, Romanian Halep was the biggest name yet to fall by the wayside in the women's draw as she was beaten 7-5, 6-1 by Croatian veteran Mirjana Lucic-Baroni.

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