French Open 2018: Maria Sharapova sends message of intent with Karolina Pliskova thrashing; Simona Halep subdues Andrea Petkovic

But once she returned to the stage where she hoisted the Suzanne Lenglen trophy in 2012 and 2014, the Russian showed she was could still be a destructive force as she left 2017 semi-finalist Pliskova running for the exit after 59 minutes.

Next up will be a meeting with either her long-time nemesis Serena Williams, who has beaten Sharapova in 18 successive encounters dating back to 2005, or Germany’s Julia Goerges.

After tussle, a breeze for Halep

Top seed Simon Halep maintained her steady progress through the French Open draw when she beat Germany’s Andrea Petkovic 7-5 6-0 to reach the fourth round on Saturday.

Relegated to the new Court 18 for the day, the Romanian had to battle for an hour to take the opening set but sped through the second with a minimum of fuss.

Petkovic, a semi-finalist in 2014 but now ranked 107, needed treatment on her right knee at the start of the second set and was no match for the twice runner-up.

Halep, cheered on by a noisy gaggle of Romanian fans, finished it off with a clinical backhand winner.

She will face 16th seed Elise Mertens in round four.

Impressive Garcia races into last 16

Caroline Garcia suffered some late jitters but produced an impressive performance to beat Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu 6-1 6-3 and reach the last 16 of the French Open on Saturday.

The seventh seed played neatly throughout, committing only 13 unforced errors — three times less than in the previous round — to set up a meeting with German Angelique Kerber or Belgian Kiki Bertens.

Garcia, who reached the quarter-finals here last year for her best Grand Slam result, raced through the opening set as Begu appeared unable to follow the Frenchwoman’s high pace from the baseline.

Garcia, however, had trouble finishing it off as she needed 13 minutes to win the last game.