In the third round of Roland Garros, seed No.28 Maria Sharapova stormed past WTA’s ace queen Karolina Pliskova, who was absolutely inferior to the flawless Russian, hitting four double faults and just one ace. Sharapova’s 18 winners were answered by just five on Pliskova’s side, as the five-time Grand Slam champion advanced to the fourth round in only 59 minutes, 6-2 6-1.
Pliskova, seeded sixth this fortnight, has never so far beaten Sharapova. It may be a surprising fact, but they’ve faced each other only twice and just how intimidating it is to have Sharapova on the other side of the net was perfectly described by her first-round opponent Richel Hogenkamp:
When you play with other girls you feel like it’s not a problem to hit an easy cross-court shot and grind into rallies.