World No. 2 Maria Sharapova crushed Romanian opponent Alexandra Cadantu without dropping a game in the first round of the French Open on Tuesday.
Cadantu, ranked 78th in the world, did not hit a single winner in her 6-0, 6-0 defeat as Sharapova dominated, winning 51 points to the Romanian’s 18.
Sharapova’s second-round opponent will be world No. 84 Ayumi Morita of Japan, who battled back from an set down in the first round to surprise 39th-ranked Slovakian Polona Hercog 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Russia’s No. 1 was handed a relatively tough draw for the French Open, including a possible meeting with either of two fellow seeded Russians, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Maria Kirilenko, in the fourth round, and the chance of a quarterfinal match with Serena Williams.
In other matches Tuesday, world No. 4 Petra Kvitova booked her place in the second round by beating Ashleigh Barty of Australia 6-1, 6-2, while Italian 14th seed Francesca Schiavone beat veteran Japanese player Kimiko Date-Krumm 6-3, 6-1.
