Samantha Stosur and Victoria Azarenka have moved closer to a potential quarter-final showdown at the French Open with both coasting to straight sets wins as the second round got under way.
Top-seeded Azarenka from Belarus defeated German qualifier Dinah Pfizenmaier 6-1 6-1, while Australian sixth seed Stosur saw off Irina Falconi of the United States 6-1 6-4 on Wednesday.
It was a very different showing from the world number one compared to her first round struggle when she stared defeat in the face at a set and 4-0 down against Italy’s Alberta Brianti before clawing her way back to win.
Up against a player who was making her Grand Slam debut at Roland Garros, Azarenka needed just 55 minutes to move through, allowing her opponent to dig her own grave with 29 unforced errors.
Azarenka won the Australian Open in January and is seeking to become the first woman since Jennifer Capriati in 2001 to win the first two Grand Slam tournaments of the year.
“It was a different game for sure today,” she said.
“I didn’t really know my opponent and it took a few games to understand what she does.
“But after a few games I found my rhythm and definitely played much better today.”
Stosur was the runner-up in Paris in 2010 when she was upset in the final by Francesca Schiavone of Italy, going on last year to defeat Serena Williams in the final of the US Open for her first Grand Slam title.
In two rounds so far at Roland Garros this year she has dropped just nine games and she looked very comfortable against Falconi, ranked 112 in the world, who had reached the second round for the first time.
The Australian said the easy wins were no ground for complacency with former top tenner Nadia Petrova her third round opponent.
“It’s still only the third round and there is a long way to go yet before you are holding the trophy.
“I think it’s just one of those things – you have to knuckle down. I know that I’ve had good runs here in the past. Now I’m up to the third step of that.”
Also through and looking to put together another strong run at Roland Garros was the 2008 champion Ana Ivanovic who stormed past Shahar Peer of Israel 6-2 6-2.
Other qualifiers for the third round were 15th seed Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia who beat Vania King of the United States 6-0 6-2 and Italian 21st seed Sara Errani who ousted America’s Melanie Oudin 6-2 6-3.
China’s 31st seed Zheng Jie went down 6-2 6-4 to Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada, who goes on to play top seed Azarenka in the third round.
Playing later in the day is Venus Williams, unseeded due to a long spell on the sidelines with an energy-sapping illness last year.
The 31-year-old American will be out to keep the family flag flying following the shock defeat of younger sister Serena at the hands of Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano.
French hopes were given a further boost with Mathilde Johansson defeating 24th seeded Czech Petra Cetkovska 7-6 (7/1) 6-2.
But there was heartbreak for last year’s beaten semi-finalist Marion Bartoli. The French number one and eighth seed lost 6-2 3-6 6-3 to Petra Martic of Croatia.
