Sharapova moves closer to completing Grand Slam set

Maria Sharapova avoided the drama of the second round as she saw off Chan Yung-jan 6-2 6-3 at the French Open today.

The seventh seed had been a set and 4-1 down against French teenager Caroline Garcia on Thursday before mounting a trademark fightback to come through in three sets.

With Caroline Wozniacki, Kim Clijsters and Samantha Stosur already out, Sharapova may never have a better chance to take the title at Roland Garros, the only grand slam she has not yet won.

Qualifier Chan does not possess the same weight of shot as Garcia while the conditions were much less windy and Sharapova immediately set about stamping her authority on the match.

The Russian raced into a 4-0 lead and, although her opponent showed good spirit and a fair bit of skill to hang in there in the first set, Sharapova was in no mood to throw it away.

Chan, from Chinese Taipei and ranked 129th in the world, continued to pose problems at the start of the second set and she even broke Sharapova back to ensure the first six games were shared.

But once the 24-year-old broke serve again to move ahead in the seventh game there was no way back for Chan, and Sharapova sealed victory, and a fourth-round encounter with Agnieszka Radwanska, in an hour and 29 minutes.