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Serena Williams sweeps into French Open fourth round

American Serena Williams reacts after a shot during her French Open women's third round match against Sorana Cirstea of Romania at Roland Garros in Paris on May 31, 2013. Williams defeated Cirstea 6-0, 6-2. UPI/David Silpa
1 of 5 | American Serena Williams reacts after a shot during her French Open women's third round match against Sorana Cirstea of Romania at Roland Garros in Paris on May 31, 2013. Williams defeated Cirstea 6-0, 6-2. UPI/David Silpa | License Photo

PARIS, May 31 (UPI) -- World No. 1 Serena Williams reached the fourth round of the French Open with a straight-set win Friday and defending champion Maria Sharapova also advanced.

Williams, who has won a career-best 27 consecutive matches, won the first seven games of a 6-0, 6-2 romp over 26th-seeded Sorana Cirstea in 61 minutes. The opening set took 23 minutes, with Williams winning 29 of the 42 points.

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Cirstea did manage three break opportunities but Williams won them all while taking 70 percent of the points on serve. Williams has lost a total of six games over her six sets in the tournament.

Sharapova, the No. 2 seed, claimed a second-round win by finishing off a 6-2, 6-4 decision over Eugenie Bouchard. Sharapova was up 4-2 in the second set Thursday when play was called because of rain.

Fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska, in Friday's final match, joined Sharapova in the fourth round with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Dinah Pfizenmaier. Radwanska dropped her serve only once and won about two-thirds of the points on serve.

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Sara Errani, the fifth seed, took out No. 32 Sabine Lisicki 6-0, 6-4 and eighth-seeded Angelique Kerber edged by Varvara Lepchenko 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, also in the third round.

In other results Friday, 12th-seeded Maria Kirilenko ran past Ashleigh Barty 6-3, 6-1 and No. 13 Marion Bartoli claimed a 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 win over Mariana Duque-Marino in second-round matches.

Also winning third-round matches were No. 14 Ana Ivanovic, 15th-seeded Roberta Vinci and No. 21 Kirsten Flipkens. Unseeded players making the fourth round were Carla Suarez Navarro and Svetlana Kuznetsova while Kaia Kanepi claimed a three-set win in a second-round match.

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