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Sharapova into third round

London - French Open champion Maria Sharapova has booked her place in the Wimbledon third round with a crushing 6-2, 6-1 win against Swiss qualifier Timea Bacsinszky on Thursday.

Sharapova lost just one game in her first round victory against Samantha Murray and the 2004 Wimbledon winner was almost as dominant in her second outing at the All England Club.

The 27-year-old needed only an hour to see off Bacsinszky on Court One, and will face Alison Riske, the American world number 44, for a place in the last 16.

"We had a few close games and I was happy with the way I stepped it up a little more than the first round," Sharapova said.

"I was a bit nervous in the first round and I knew I needed to step up my game this time. Starting off a Grand Slam is never easy, especially on grass.

"You always get a few butterflies stepping onto a court where you've had so many good matches, but I'm happy with the way I'm playing."

Most French Open champions find it difficult to succeed at the grasscourt Grand Slam so soon after winning on clay in Paris and Serena Williams is the last woman to achieve the Roland Garros-Wimbledon in 2002.

But world number five Sharapova, bidding to win Wimbledon for the first time since her famous final victory against Serena as a teenager 10 years ago, has swept through the first two rounds with the minimum fuss.

Bacsinszky is back up to 85th in the world rankings after a 2011 foot injury caused her to plummet out of the top 500.

The 25-year-old also showed grasscourt potential by reaching the final of a second-tier event in Nottingham last month, but she had never been past the Wimbledon second round in five attempts and she was soon in trouble against Sharapova.

Quickly establishing a vice-like grip on proceedings, Sharapova broke in Bacsinszky's first service game and again in the sixth to take the opening set with a brutal display of power hitting.

It was more of the same in the second set and Sharapova was soon celebrating the most routine of victories.

Wimbledon results on Thursday, the fourth day of the 2014 championships at the All England Club (x denotes seeded player):

Men

Second round
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA x14) bt Sam Querrey (USA) 4-6, 7-6 (7/2), 6-7 (4/7), 6-3, 14-12
Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI x5) bt Lu Yen-Hsun (TPE) 7-6 (8/6), 6-3, 3-6, 7-5
Denis Istomin (UZB) bt Julian Reister (GER) 7-6 (9/7), 6-4, 6-4
Tommy Robredo (ESP x23) bt Adrian Mannarino (FRA) 6-4, 6-1, 7-6 (7/5)
Roger Federer (SUI x4) bt Gilles Muller (LUX) 6-3, 7-5, 6-3
Milos Raonic (CAN x8) bt Jack Sock (USA) 6-3, 6-4, 6-4
Lukasz Kubot (POL) bt Dusan Lajovic (SRB) 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (7/4), 6-3, 7-6 (7/3)
Simone Bolelli (ITA) bt Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER x22) 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5
Kei Nishikori (JPN x10) bt Denis Kudla (USA) 6-3, 6-2, 6-1
Nick Kyrgios (AUS) bt Richard Gasquet (FRA x13) 3-6, 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 7-5, 10-8
Jir Vesel (CZE) bt Gael Monfils (FRA x24) 7-6 (7/3), 6-3, 6-7 (1/7), 6-7 (3/7), 6-4
Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) bt Frank Dancevic (CAN) 6-3, 6-3, 6-2
Rafael Nadal (ESP x2) bt Luks Rosol (CZE) 4-6, 7-6 (8/6), 6-4, 6-4

Women

Second round
Serena Williams (USA x1) bt Chanelle Scheepers (RSA) 6-1, 6-1
Alize Cornet (FRA x25) bt Petra Cetkovsk (CZE) 6-4, 5-7, 6-3
Andrea Petkovic (GER x20) bt Irina Begu (ROM) 6-4, 3-6, 6-1
Eugnie Bouchard (CAN) bt Silvia Soler (ESP) 7-5, 6-1
Angelique Kerber (GER x9) bt Heather Watson (GBR) 6-2, 5-7, 6-1
Kirsten Flipkens (BEL x24) bt Lourdes Domnguez (ESP) 6-2, 6-1
Alison Riske (USA) bt Camila Giorgi (ITA) 7-5, 6-2
Maria Sharapova (RUS x5) bt Timea Bacsinszky (SUI) 6-2, 6-1
Vera Zvonareva (RUS) bt Donna Vekic (CRO) 6-4, 6-4
Zarina Diyas (KAZ) bt Carla Surez (ESP x15) 7-6 (14/12), 5-7, 6-2
Ana Ivanovic (SRB x11) bt Zheng Jie (CHN) 6-4, 6-0
Sabine Lisicki (GER x19) bt Karolna Plskov (CZE) 6-3, 7-5
Madison Keys (USA) bt Klara Koukalova (CZE x31) 7-5, 6-7 (3/7), 6-2
Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) bt Kaia Kanepi (EST) 6-3, 6-7 (4/7), 6-2

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