• French Open, Day Six

Serena crushes Goerges

Serena Williams had too much power for Julia Goerges © Getty Images

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Men's round-up: Day six
Day six gallery

Serena Williams cemented her status as No. 1 seed with a demolition job on Julia Goerges to reach the third round of the French Open.

Williams is behind Justine Henin in the bookmakers' lists for the title, but she sent out a chilling warning to her Belgian rival with a stunning display of power hitting to secure a 6-1 6-1 win.

Goerges was broken early on and it knocked the belief out of the German as Williams raced through the first set.

It looked like Goerges would be bageled in the second as Williams continued her assault from the back of the court, but she held her serve in the fifth game.

Goerges showed some spirit and thrilled the crowd with a crunching forehand to win a point on the Williams serve, but it was only a brief respite as the American wrapped up victory in 55 minutes.

Henin responded to Williams' impressive effort by completing a 6-3 6-3 win over Klara Zakopalova. The Belgian's second-round clash was carried over from Thursday night, but it did not disrupt her concentration as she claimed the second set with relative ease.

Venus Williams was not to be outdone either, and she emerged unscathed from a potentially awkward tie against No. 26 seed Dominika Cibulkova. The triumph marked Williams' entry to the fourth round at Roland Garros for the first time in four years.

No. 3 seed Caroline Wozniacki progressed in similarly comfortable style with a dominant 6-3 6-4 win over the dangerous Alexandra Dulgheru. She will face 14th seed Flavia Pennetta next after the Italian dropped three games as she took out Polona Hercog.

2007 semi-finalist Maria Sharapova enjoyed a routine win over Kirsten Flipkens © Getty Images

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Defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova could not muster the same fighting spirit that guided her to the first Grand Slam title of her career at last year's event as she slipped to a shock 6-3 2-6 6-4 exit at the hands of Maria Kirilenko. The No. 6 seed never got her serve firing and made too many unforced errors as she mounted a less than impressive defence of her clay-court crown. Next up for Kirilenko is Italy's Francesca Schiavone, who eliminated the much-fancied Na Li 6-4 6-2.

Maria Sharapova eased to a 6-3 6-3 win over Kirsten Flipkens and that sets up a mouthwatering clash with Henin in round three - arguably the biggest match of the tournament to date.

No. 5 seed Elena Dementieva suffered a first-set scare but fought back to beat Aleksandra Wozniak 6-7(2) 6-3 6-4. South Africa's Chanelle Scheepers will be Dementieva's opponent in the fourth round after she took out Akgul Amanmuradova 6-3 6-3.

Katie O'Brien's conqueror Jill Craybas' interest in the tournament came to an end at the hands of Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova who secured a 6-4 6-1 win. Anastasia Pivovarova joined her fellow Russian in round three thanks to an impressive 6-4 6-3 win over Jie Zheng.

The No. 13 seed Marion Bartoli got the better of an all-French affair with Olivia Sanchez, triumphing 7-5 6-2. Daniela Hantuchova also progressed in straight sets, trumping Belarus' Olga Govortsova 7-5 6-3. Her third-round opponent will be Yanina Wickmayer. The Belgian needed three sets to overcome Sybille Bammer.

Australia's Samantha Stosur had to be at her best to progress past Rossana De Los Rios. The No. 7 seed dropped the first set but responded in spectacular style to as she lost one game in the final two sets to seal a 4-6 6-1 6-0 success.

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