Maria vs Serena in offing, Rafa wins

Paris,
Maria Sharapova edged closer to a possible French Open Last-16 duel with old rival Serena Williams today as top seed Simona Halep and Garbine Muguruza breezed into the third round. Sharapova needed five match points to see off Croatia’s Donna Vekic 7-5 6-4 in a tie which featured 10 breaks of serve. Sharapova will face Czech sixth seed Karolina Pliskova for a place in the fourth round.
Serena beat Australia’s Ashleigh Barty 3-6 6-3 6-4 to enter the third round.
Williams, 36, defeated Barty in their only previous meeting, needing less than an hour to secure a straight sets win at the 2014 Australian Open.
Halep reached the third round with a comfortable 6-3 6-1 win over Taylor Townsend of the United States. Garbine Muguruza was too strong for France’s Fiona Ferro 6-4 6-3.
Easy for Nadal

Rafael Nadal beat Guido Pella of Argentina 6-2 6-1 6-1. Marin Cilic and Dominic Thiem struggled into the Last-32. Cilic reached the third round for the eighth time with a 6-2 6-2 6-7 3/7) 7-5 win over Polish qualifier Hubert Hurkacz.
Seventh seeded Thiem saw off Greek teenager Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-2 2-6 6-4 6-4 in a match which had been suspended overnight after the third set. Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov was knocked out by Germany’s Maximilian Marterer 5-7 7-6 (7/4) 7-5 6-4.