Defending champion Maria Sharapova through safely at French Open

Maria Sharapova has started her French Open title defence with a comfortable straight-sets triumph over Kaia Kanepi.

Both players exchanged breaks tentatively at the start of the opening set before Sharapova went into overdrive to seal it 6-2.

The Russian powered into a 3-1 lead in the second, but Kanepi showed some resistance by clawing back the break.

However, Sharapova proved too much for the world number 50 in the end as she won 6-2 6-4 to set up an encounter with fellow Russian Vitalia Diatchenko.