Sharapova too strong for Knapp

Top seed Maria Sharapova finally found some form at the French Open to clinch a spot in the fourth round.

The Russian was taken to three sets in both of her opening matches at Roland Garros, but she showed huge improvement as she overcame 32nd seed Karin Knapp 7-6 (7/4) 6-0 on Philippe Chatrier court.

She will next play 13th seed and fellow Russian Dinara Safina, who was a 6-2 7-5 winner over Chinese qualifier Jie Zheng.

Fourth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova was in ruthless mood as she disposed of fellow Russian Nadia Petrova with the loss of just three games.

Kuznetsova, the runner-up at Roland Garros in 2006, clinched an emphatic 6-2 6-1 victory over the 25th seed.

She next plays Victoria Azarenka, the 16th seed from Belarus who thrashed Francesca Schiavone 6-1 6-1 on Suzanne Lenglen court.

In the bottom half of the draw, third seed Jelena Jankovic quickly wrapped up her match against Dominika Cibulkova that was held over from Friday due to bad light.

The Serbian resumed a set and 4-2 ahead against the 28th seed from Slovakia, and won two of the next three games to clinch a 7-5 6-3 victory.

She will now play Agnieszka Radwanska in the fourth round.