Russian No. 1 tennis player Maria Sharapova will face France’s Alize Cornet in the second round of the Stuttgart Grand Prix after Cornet overcame Russian opponent Anna Chakvetadze in the first round.
Cornet, the world No. 100, set up her first meeting with Sharapova with a 6-3, 6-4 win.
Chakvetadze, the former world No. 5, is trying to recover from a succession of injuries in recent years and, like Cornet, reached the first round as a qualifier.
Her last meeting with Sharapova came in the first round at Wimbledon last year, which Sharapova won 6-1, 6-2.
Elsewhere in the draw, Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova will face German player Julia Goerges for the right to face Australia’s Samantha Stosur in the second round, with the winner of that match then taking on Sharapova or Cornet in the quarterfinals.
