Defending champion Ana Ivanovic thrashed Iveta Benesova to become the first woman into the last 16 at the French Open.
Serb hits form at Roland Garros
Defending champion Ana Ivanovic crushed 32nd seed Iveta Benesova to become the first woman into the last 16 at the French Open.
Ivanovic, the eighth seed, secured a 6-0 6-2 success over her Czech opponent in Friday's first match on Suzanne Lenglen court.
The Serb saved two break points in the opening game before racing through the remainder of an embarrassingly one-sided first set lasting just 23 minutes.
Benesova put up a better fight in the second set, finally getting on the board in the second game before breaking Ivanovic for the first and only time to lead 2-1, but her opponent recovered it straight away.
The key game of the set was the sixth, on Benesova's serve, when Ivanovic claimed it after several deuces, and two games later she sealed the result on her first match point with a forehand winner.
Ivanovic, who was wearing protective strapping on the front of her right knee but showed no signs of discomfort from the problem that kept her out of the Madrid Open, has negotiated her way through the first three rounds without dropping a set.
"I feel fit and ready to handle any kind of opponent," said Ivanovic, who will play either ninth seed Victoria Azarenka or 22nd seed Carla Suarez Navarro for a place in the quarter-finals.
"My game is coming back and I feel more comfortable. I really missed competition last month.
"These kind of matches help for the tough matches ahead in the second week."
Teenager silenced
Meanwhile, home hope Aravane Rezai ended run of 16-year-old Michelle Larcher de Brito in a frosty encounter.
The Portuguese teenager has casued a stir in Paris not just with her impressive tennis but also with her loud shrieking.
And it irked Rezai so much that she was quick to complain to the umpire about the noise during her 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 triumph.
The crowd at Philippe Chatrier court, fully behind the French player, turned on the youngster, booing regularly.
However, the issue did not prevent Rezai reaching the fourth round of her home Grand Slam for the first time in her career.
The players barely shook hands at the end of the contest, Larcher de Brito sarcastically clapping the crowd as she left the court.
"She really shouts loud," noted Rezai afterwards. "Maybe it's the way she tries to impress the opponent, but it really did upset me because it was really unpleasant.
"I said (to the umpire) 'she's shouting too loud'. There's a limit. You can't really shout that way. She (Larcher de Brito) said, '(Maria) Sharapova has never been told that she was shouting too loud'."
