Sharapova crushes Scheepers

Paris - Top-seeded Maria Sharapova beat Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa 6-3, 6-1 on Wednesday to reach the quarter-finals of the Open GDF Suez.

Sharapova broke for a 4-3 lead in the first set and twice more in the second, clinching the victory when Scheepers netted a backhand.

In first-round matches, American qualifier Bethanie Mattek-Sands finished off Kristina Barrois of Germany with her 10th ace to secure a 7-6 (7/3), 6-2 win.

Barrois rallied from a 4-1 deficit to force a tie-breaker. But Mattek-Sands won six straight points to take the first set and then broke Barrois twice in the second.

Mattek-Sands will next play seventh-seeded Roberta Vinci, who beat Simona Halep of Romania 6-4, 6-4.

Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic and Monica Niculescu of Romania also advanced, along with French wild card Pauline Parmentier and American teenager Christina McHale.

Parmentier jumped out to 3-0 in the final set and hit a backhand cross-court winner to edge eighth-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.

The French woman had 31 winners to only 15 for Medina Garrigues.

Niculescu outlasted Jarmila Gajdosova of Australia 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 in an erratic match of 14 service breaks.

Zakopalova cruised past French wild card Alize Cornet 6-3, 6-1 by winning eight straight games to lead 5-0 in the second set.

McHale beat lucky loser Varvara Lepchenko 6-4, 7-5 in an all-American match and will next face Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium.

Wickmayer led 6-1 in her first-round match when American veteran Jill Craybas retired because of a right leg injury.

Results from the Open GDF Suez, a $637,000 WTA Tour event on indoor hard-courts at Stade Coubertin (seedings in parentheses):

Singles

First Round

Bethanie Mattek-Sands, United States, def. Kristina Barrois, Germany, 7-6 (7/3), 6-2.
Monica Niculescu, Romania, def. Jarmila Gajdosova, Australia, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4.
Klara Zakopalova, Czech Republic, def. Alize Cornet, France, 6-3, 6-1.
Roberta Vinci (7), Italy, def. Simona Halep, Romania, 6-4, 6-4.
Pauline Parmentier, France, def. Anabel Medina Garrigues (8), Spain, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Christina McHale, United States, def. Varvara Lepchenko, United States, 6-4, 7-5.
Yanina Wickmayer, Belgium, def. Jill Craybas, United States, 6-1, retired.

Second Round

Maria Sharapova (1), Russia, def. Chanelle Scheepers, South Africa, 6-3, 6-1.