Maria Sharapova continued her defence of the French Open title in style on Wednesday, securing a routine 6-3, 6-1 victory over Vitalia Diatchenko to book her place in Round 3.The second seed was far too good for her compatriot on the Roland Garros clay, dominating with her thunderous ground strokes and outworking the world No. 89 throughout the match. Sharapova will face former US Open champion Samantha Stosur next in her bid to secure back-to-back titles in Paris.From the off, it seemed pretty clear which way this encounter was going to go. Diatchenko had to work hard to overcome Stefanie Voegele in Round 1 and she seemed a little caught off guard by the ferocity in Sharapovas play.As noted by ByTheMin Tennis, the chasm in class was pretty clear in the early exchanges, as Maria secured an early break:Credit must go to Diatchenko, though. She clung on in there for the next few games, breaking back to level things up at 2-2. But the reigning champion, who made just three unforced errors in the entire first set, was simply too good, breaking straight back and moving into a 4-2 lead.Eventually, Sharapova broke her opponent in the ninth game to take the set 6-3. As the tournaments official Twitter feed illustrated, the five-time Grand Slam champion was in majestic form:The second set saw Maria really move through the gears as another delectable drop shot helped her on the way to an early break and 2-0 lead.Diatchenko's determination to scrap for every point was on the wane at this point, while her compatriot was in the ascendancy. Sharapova saved a break point in the third game to motor three games in front and when she broke her opponent's serve again to establish a four-game lead,Diatchenko was done for.The underdog was spared the embarassment of a bagel loss, grabbing the sixth game. But it was merely staving off the inevitable, as Maria won the very next, securing a 6-1 second set and the match.As noted by Ben Rothenberg of the New York Times, the levels shown here by Sharapova were much higher than in her first-round match:Sharapova will face a much sterner test in what will be an intriguing third-round match. Although Stosur hasnt been performing at her best recently, she was so dominant in her previous encounter, dismantling Amandine Hesse 6-0, 6-1. Whether she can preserve those levels against a higher calibre player remains to be seen.The Russian superstar will be glad of a more competitive opponent with some tough challenges to come. Her game is looking in fine fettle on the clay surface and, as was evident in this comprehensive win, the 28-year-old seems to be peaking perfectly in her attempt to cling on to the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen for another year.All statistics courtesy of the tournaments official website.
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