• French Open, Day Six

Williams and Sharapova both march on

Serena Williams was untroubled once again at the French Open © AP

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• Profile: Serena Williams

Serena Williams continues to dominate as the world No. 1 sealed a stress-free passage into the fourth round of the French Open.

The American was in total control throughout her encounter against Sorana Cirstea, and she only dropped two games in a 6-0 6-2 win to collect her 27th consecutive triumph.

Williams required only 23 minutes to whitewash her opponent in the first set as the power of the top seed was too much for her Romanian opponent to deal with. Seven winners flew off the Williams racket, whereas 12 unforced errors came from Cirstea.

Cirstea put up a fight at the start of the second set as the pair shared the opening four games.

However, Williams broke to love in the sixth and lost just two points in the next two games to see off the world No. 30.

Champion Maria Sharapova wrapped up victory against Eugenie Bouchard, with the Russian winning 6-2 6-4 to move into the third round on her rain-affected side of the draw.

On Thursday, the second seed was up a set and 4-2 in the second before rain brought play to an end, and requiring just the two games to progress, Sharapova quickly finished off the encounter to march on.

"It was such a long day yesterday and it is always difficult to come back out, so it was important to get off to a good start and I am just happy to finish the match today," Sharapova said.

The 12th seed Maria Kirilenko joined fellow Russian Sharapova in the next round with a convincing 6-3 6-1 win over Australia's Ashley Barty.

Elsewhere, Marion Bartoli continued to delight the French crowd as the former Wimbledon finalist booked her place in round three with a hard-fought 7-6(5) 7-5 win over Mariana Duque-Marino.

Bartoli will now face 2010 champion Francesca Schiavone, after the Italian beat 21st seed Kirsten Flipkens. In the early evening, there were also wins for Agnieszka Radwanska, Ana Ivanovic and Angelique Kerber.

Friday's other match saw Heather Watson's vanquisher Stefanie Voegele move on at the expense of Kaia Kanepi.

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