Sharapova reaches third round at French Open

Russia’s Maria Sharapova serves against Su-Wei Hsieh of Taipeh in their first round match of the French Open tennis tournament, at Roland Garros stadium in Paris, Monday, May 27, 2013. AP FILE PHOTO

PARIS – Defending champion Maria Sharapova showed no mercy to Nike stable-mate Eugenie Bouchard at the French Open on Friday, swatting aside the Canadian teenager 6-2, 6-4 to reach the last 32.

In a second round match held over from Thursday evening due to rain with the Russian second seed up a set and 4-2, it took just four more games for her to complete the task, sealing the win when her opponent hit long under pressure.

“It was such a long day yesterday and it is always difficult to come back out, so it was important to get off to a good start and I am just happy to finish the match today,” she said.

It was a lesson in big-time tennis for the promising 19-year-old from Quebec, who won the Wimbledon girls singles title last year and who was playing in her first Grand Slam tournament.

Sharapova, a teenage tennis sensation herself when she won the 2004 Wimbledon title at the age of 17, will go on to play China’s Zheng Jie who eased past Melanie Oudin of the United States 6-3, 6-1.

She is now on a nine-match winning streak at Roland Garros having completed her collection of Grand Slam titles in Paris last year, the seventh woman in the Open era to achieve that feat.

The Russian has been a model of consistency on tour this year, winning tournaments at Indian Wells and Stuttgart, but she has lost heavily to top seed Serena Williams at Doha, Miami and Madrid.