Victoria Azarenka and Samantha Stosur moved closer to a potential quarter-final showdown at the French Open on Wednesday with both coasting to straight sets wins as the second round got underway. Top-seeded Azarenka from Belarus defeated German qualifier Dinah Pfizenmaier 6-1, 6-1 while Australian sixth seed Stosur saw off Irina Falconi of the United States 6-1, 6-4.
It was a very different showing from the world number one compared to her first round struggle when she stared defeat in the face at a set and 4-0 down against Italy's Alberta Brianti before clawing her way back to win. Up against a player who was making her Grand Slam debut at Roland Garros, Azarenka needed just 55 minutes to move through, allowing her opponent to dig her own grave with 29 unforced errors.
Azarenka won the Australian Open in January and is seeking to become the first woman since Jennifer Capriati in 2001 to win the first two Grand Slam tournaments of the year. "It was a different game for sure today," she said. "I didn't really know my opponent and it took a few games to understand what she does.
"But after a few games I found my rhythm and definitely played much better today." Stosur was the runner-up here in 2010 when she was upset in the final by Francesca Schiavone of Italy, going on last year to defeat Serena Williams in the final of the US Open for her first Grand Slam title.
Also through and looking to put together another strong run at Roland Garros was the 2008 champion Ana Ivanovic who stormed past Shahar Peer of Israel 6-2, 6-2. The former world number one has failed to reach the quarter-finals here in the last three years and has failed to reach a tournament final this year.
Other qualifiers for the third round were 15th seed Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia who beat Vania King of the United States 6-0, 6-2 and Italian 21st seed Sara Errani who ousted America's Melanie Oudin 6-2, 6-3. China's 31st seed Zheng Jie went down 6-2, 6-4 to Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada, who goes on to play top seed Azarenka in the third round.