Paris May 31 (IANS) Russia s Maria Sharapova on Thursday defeated Donna Vekic of Croatia 7-5 6-4 to book a place in the third round of the French Open the second Grand Slam event of the year held on clay court.
In their first career match Sharapova a former World No. 1 needed nearly two hours to reach the third round where she takes on the Czech Republic s Karolina Pliskova the sixth seed who ousted her countrywoman Lucie Safarova 3-6 6-4 6-1 reports Efe.
The second-round match saw a total of ten service breaks out of eyebrow-raising 25 opportunities.
Sharapova currently World No. 30 conceded her serve twice in each set but was able to break her rival s serve three times to seal the win.

--IANS gau/bg