World number eight Maria Sharapova suddenly became a heavy favorite to win the Roland Garros title this year following the surprise elimination of the top two seeds at this claycourt Grand Slam event.
World number one and defending champion Serena Williams crashed out of the tournament in the second round after being eliminated by Garbine Muguruza of Spain. 2011 champion Li Na was ousted in the opening round by Kristina Mladenovic of France. Sharapova is the 2012 champion in Paris.
Sharapova advanced to the third round after powering past Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria 7-5, 6-2.
“I started off quite cold, wasn’t moving my feet enough and just didn’t have a good rhythm,” Sharapova said. “Once I got the break back, I started feeling much better about my game, and I was able to hold that until the end of the match.
“You have to follow your path and concentrate on your work and who’s ahead of you and not get worried about what’s going on. Obviously when you go on court you’re aware of a lot of the upsets, not just among the women, but with the men as well. So it’s great to get a win in that type of atmosphere.”
