French Open: Svitolina canters into third round in Paris

PARIS: Elina Svitolina saw off Roland Garros debutante Viktoria Kuzmova of Slovakia 6-3, 6-4 to reach the third round of the French Open on Wednesday.

The Ukrainian fourth seed, coming off a successful defence of her title in Rome, played solid tennis throughout to set up a meeting with Romanian Mihaela Buzarnescu.

Kuzmova, having beaten 2010 champion Francesca Schiavone in the first round, was no pushover in the opening set but there was little she could do when the Ukrainian stepped up a gear.

After an early trade of breaks in the second set, Svitolina, twice a quarter-finalist in Paris, broke her opponent's serve again for 4-3 and held to close it out without a scare.