Sharapova fights to stay on track

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PARIS, France -- Maria Sharapova was given a brief scare on her way to a 6-1 6-4 victory over Russian qualifier Alla Kudryavtseva in the French Open third round on Saturday.

The second seeded Russian had her serve broken three times in the second set to fall 4-1 behind before the 20-year-old rattled off five games in a row to take the match.

Sharapova, who returned recently from a right shoulder injury, started well enough against a player making her main draw debut at Roland Garros, taking the opening set in 28 minutes.

A string of double faults and wild groundstrokes threw her off course in the second set as 19-year-old Kudryavtseva threatened to extend the two-times grand slam champion into a third set.

But Sharapova, who appeared to be in some discomfort with her serve, held firm as her inexperienced rival fell away.

World number three Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia advanced to the last 16 with a 6-2 6-3 win over teenage qualifier Dominika Cibulkova.

Kuznetsova, who lost to Justine Henin in last year's final, appeared a little cumbersome at times but still proved too strong for her 18-year-old opponent from Slovakia.

The third seed made a sluggish start but managed to break her opponent in the sixth game and repeated the feat two games later to take the opening set in 40 minutes.

After forging an early break in the second set, the 21-year-old Kuznetsova dropped her own serve in the third game but broke back immediately.

Kuznetsova then held on to seal victory with a backhand volley on her first match point after 87 minutes.

The former U.S. Open champion will next meet Israel's Shahar Peer or Slovenia's Katarina Srebotnik for a place in the quarterfinals.

Seventh seed Ana Ivanovic of Serbia showed no mercy to Romanian qualifier Ioana Raluca Olaru and romped into the fourth round with a 6-2 6-0 win.

Ranked 122 in the world and making her grand slam debut at Roland Garros, Olaru was predictably overawed by the imposing surroundings of the Suzanne Lenglen court and rolled over in 65 minutes.

After dropping just nine games in her three matches so far, Ivanovic looks set to at least equal her best performance in Paris of reaching the quarterfinals when she meets either Daniela Hantuchova or Anabel Medina Garrigues.

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