PARIS, May 31 (UPI) -- Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova, finalists in the year's other Grand Slam event, took second-round wins Thursday at the French Open.
Williams, who won the Australian Open as an unseeded entrant and is seeded eighth this week, ran her Grand Slam winning streak to nine matches with a 6-0, 7-6 (7-3) victory Thursday over Milagros Sequera.
Williams is looking to recapture the French Open title she won in 2002. She won her eighth major tournament title by beating Sharapova at this year's Australian Open.
Sharapova, the No. 2 seed, rushed past Jill Craybas 6-2, 6-1 to earn a third-round slot and moved a little closer to a possible third consecutive Grand Slam finals appearance.
No. 3-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova, the runner-up at the 2006 French Open, moved into the third round with a 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 victory over Meghann Shaughnessy and fifth-seeded Amelie Mauresmo was pushed to a third set by her good friend Nathalie Dechy before escaping with a 6-5, 6-7 (3-7), 6-1 win.
Other highly seeded players posted a series of straight-set victories Thursday in the French Open's second round. Seventh-seeded Ana Ivanovic was a 6-1, 6-4 winner over Sania Mirza; 14th-seeded Patty Schnyder posted a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Kateryna Bondarenko; and No. 15 Shahar Peer topped Edina Gallovits 6-4, 6-1.
