PARIS: Maria Sharapova reacts during her WTA Paris Open Tennis Tournament match against Daniela Hantuchova here Wednesday. — AFP Photo PARIS, Jan 30 (AFP): Russian top seed Maria Sharapova dished out a 6-0, 6-1 defeat to Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova in the second round to cruise into the WTA Paris Open quarter-finals Wednesday.
A shock fourth-round loser at the season-opening Grand Slam the Australian Open in Melbourne earlier this month Sharapova regained the winning thread at the Stade Coubertin, serving 10 aces with just two double faults.
Sharapova's Melbourne campaign was just her second event since a shoulder injury ended the 26-year-old world number five's 2013 season in August, a setback which also ruled her out of the US Open.
However, Sharapova, the 2012 French Open champion, said that her early exit from the Australian Open-beaten by Hantuchova's compatriot Dominika Cibulkova who went on to lose in the final to China's Li Na-had had its positive side to it with regard to the indoor tournament.
"It's quite an adjustment coming here," she said.
"I lost quite early in Australia, so it gave me a little bit more time to get ready for this event, to catch up on jet lag and get through that.
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