Serena strolls into French Open quarters

Paris - Defending champion Serena Williams cruised into the French Open quarter-finals on Wednesday after thrashing Ukraine's Elina Svitolina 6-1, 6-1.

Williams needed just 62 minutes to sweep aside the 18th seed in her pursuit of a record-equalling 22nd Open era Grand Slam title.

The world number one will face Spanish 12th seed Carla Suarez Navarro or Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva for a place in the last four.

French Open women's singles quarter-finals line-up (x denotes seeded player):

Serena Williams (USA x1) v Yulia Putintseva (KAZ)

Kiki Bertens (NED) v Timea Bacsinszky (SUI x8)

Shelby Rogers (USA) v Garbine Muguruza (ESP x4)

Samantha Stosur (AUS x21) v Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL)