• French Open, Day Five

Rain halts Sharapova, Azarenka through in two

Maria Sharapova wanted to complete her match on Thursday © AP

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Maria Sharapova will return on Friday to complete her second round encounter against Eugenie Bouchard after rain interrupted play when the Russian was closing in on victory.

The French Open champion was a comfortable winner over Su-Wei Hsieh in round one, and once again the second seed was in total command against Bouchard. But leading 6-2 4-2 the second seed was unable to finish the match as heavy rain forced the game to be moved to Friday.

With rain disrupting play throughout the day, Sharapova led 4-1 in the first set before the players were sent to the locker rooms and the covers came on.

It seemed as though play would not resume due to the bleak forecast. However, with matches that had not started being moved a day, Sharapova was given the green light to return, and with it the Russian sealed the first set to the loss of only two games.

At 4-2 in the second set, the rain was tumbling and Bouchard asked the umpire whether the match should be stopped - given she was being outplayed.

Sharapova stayed on the baseline and gave a stern look to the umpire as she was intent on wrapping up the match. But, a few points later, Bouchard's wish was granted as play was suspended.

Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka safely made it through to the third round with a 6-4 6-3 win over Annika Beck.

Former finalist Sam Stosur overcame Kristina Mladenovic 6-4 6-3, but 2011 winner Li Na exited the event after going down 5-7 6-3 6-2 to American Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

Wimbledon champion of 2011 Petra Kvitova was a comfortable 6-4 6-3 victor over Shuai Peng, and the 18th seed Jelena Jankovic had no trouble advancing to the third round, beating Garbine Muguruza 6-3 6-0, and doing so by winning 12 games on the spin.

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