Tennis: World number one Maria Sharapova battled
her way into the fourth round of the French Open with a 7-6 6-0
victory over Italian Karin Knapp today.
The Russian top seed needed an hour and 58 minutes to see off
the 32nd seed and set up a meeting with compatriot Dinara Safina, a
6-2 7-5 winner over China's Zheng Jie.
Sharapova, a semi-finalist at Roland Garros last year, won
the opening set tiebreak 7-4 after a tight 81 minutes with a
crosscourt backhand winner.
The contest turned her way when she broke in the 13-minute
second game of the second set and Knapp, who had only won two
matches on clay this season before arriving in Paris, bowed out
after netting a smash.
Fourth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova was an easy winner in her third round encoutner.
Kuznetsova thrashed fellow Russian Nadia Petrova 6-2 6-1 on Court Philippe Chatrier as she continued her bid to return to the final at Roland Garros.
The 2006 runner-up proved way too good for an out-of-sorts Petrova who has not been at her best this year following a number of injuries.
Kuznetsova raced into a 3-0 lead after breaking serve twice in the early stages and that set the tone for the match.
The 2004 US Open champion went on to break six times in total, cracking 12 winners to her opponent's five.
Next up for Kuznetsova is a meeting with the in-form Victoria Azarenka, the 16th seed who has dropped just six games in three rounds so far.
Azarenka thrashed Francesca Schiavone 6-1 6-1 in her third-round match.
Meanwhile, Jelena Jankovic quickly wrapped up victory when her third-round match resumed.
The third seed had led Dominika Cibulkova 7-5 4-2 when play was halted on Friday evening due to fading light.
But when the players returned to Court One in brighter conditions, it took Jankovic around 10 minutes to complete her expected win as she won two of the three games required.
She will play Agnieszka Radwanska next.
Dinara Safina overcame a patchy serving display and China's Jie Zheng to book her place in round four.
The Russian, a recent winner of the German Open, was broken five times but still managed to post a 6-2 7-5 win.
Safina produced six double faults and got only 47 per cent of her first serves in en route to the last 16 where she is likely to meet top seed Maria Sharapova.