PARIS — Maria Sharapova knows the pitfalls of being a prodigy and after easing into the fourth round at Roland Garros on Friday the seasoned grand slam champion offered some sage advice to the new generation in women's tennis.
The French Open defending champion, seeded second, showed all her maturity when she beat Australian 26th seed Samantha Stosur 6-3 6-4 to stay on course for a possible third Roland Garros title, 11 years after winning Wimbledon as a teenager.
Since then, several players have been dubbed 'the new Sharapova', including Canadian Eugenie Bouchard, whose rapid rise up the rankings last year drew obvious comparison with the glamorous Russian.