French Open 2018: Maria Sharapova puts on best display since drugs ban on return to centre stage in Paris

Sharapova sauntered into the fourth round at Roland Garros

Sharapova is a former French Open champion (Getty)

As soon as the draw was made for the French Open everyone was noting the possibility of the returning Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova meeting in the fourth round. One of the most eagerly anticipated matches of the year will duly take place here next week after the 36-year-old American and the 31-year-old Russian defied the world rankings and the tournament seedings to secure their places in the last 16.

Williams, who is playing in her first Grand Slam tournament for 16 months after taking time off to have a baby, bridged a gap of 440 places in the world rankings when she beat Germany’s Julia Goerges, the world No 11, 6-3, 6-4 in the third round on Saturday.

Sharapova, who is playing here for the first time in three years following her drugs suspension, earned her place in the fourth round earlier in the day with a crushing 6-2, 6-1 victory over Karolina Pliskova, who as the world No 6 is ranked 24 places higher than the Russian.

Williams and Sharapova will therefore meet for the 22nd time in what has been an extraordinarily lop-sided rivalry between the two most famous women in the modern game.

Maria Sharapova has been in impressive form (Getty)

Sharapova won two of her first three matches against Williams – in the 2004 finals at Wimbledon and the year-end championships – but has since lost to her 18 times in a row. Their most recent meeting was in the quarter-finals of the 2016 Australian Open, which was Sharapova’s last match for 15 months as she went on to serve a drugs suspension.

“I think there are a lot of things in Serena’s game that she’s done much better than I have,” Sharapova said. “Numbers don't lie.”

She added: “I think any time you play against Serena you know what you're up against. You know the challenge that is upon you. Despite the record that I have against her, I always look forward to coming out on the court and competing against the best player. I will look forward to doing that.”

Williams had beaten Ashleigh Barty, the world No 17, in thrilling fashion two days earlier after coming back from a set down, but rarely looked in any danger against Goerges. Although the 29-year-old German is a fine clay-court player, she struggled to live with the power of Williams’ serves and ground strokes.

The former world No 1 took the first set with a single break of serve in the fourth game. On break point Goerges played what looked to be a decent drop shot, but Williams not only got to the ball but also hit a rasping forehand cross-court winner off it.

(Getty (Getty)

There were three successive breaks of serve early in the second set, with Williams securing two of them. The American went on to serve out for the best win of her comeback so far in terms of the ranking of her opponent.

Williams delighted the crowd on Court Suzanne Lenglen by answering questions in French in her post-match interview. “I was very solid,” she said. “It was difficult because Julia plays really well, but I’m here, I played and I won. It’s not easy, but it’s different for me because I have a baby now.”

Sharapova beat Pliskova in her first appearance on Court Philippe Chatrier for three years. Pliskova reached the semi-finals here last year, but the 26-year-old Czech was swept aside on the main show court by a flood of attacking strokeplay from the former champion, who needed just 59 minutes to complete her victory.

“I thought I did a really good job of being aggressive on the return,” Sharapova said afterwards.“I was solid. I played smart. I think I did the right things, I was aggressive on the break points, I went for it. I took the match rather than her giving it to me.”

Petra Kvitova had always insisted that she should not be regarded as one of the favourites to win this tournament and her unlikely winning run on clay finally came to an end.

Thirteen successive victories had seen the 28-year-old Czech win titles in Prague and Madrid and reach the third round here, but the two-times Wimbledon champion was beaten 7-6, 7-6 by Anett Kontaveit, who has been making huge strides of her own this year.

The 22-year-old Estonian has beaten, among others, Caroline Wozniacki, Angelique Kerber and Venus Williams during the current clay-court season and is now enjoying her best run here. She will next take on Sloane Stephens, the US Open champion, who beat Camila Giorgi 4-6, 6-1, 8-6.

Kvitova, who returned to competition here last year after the horrific knife attack which she feared might have ended her career, said: “Anett played great tennis today and didn’t really give me anything. She returned pretty well, though I didn't really serve as well as I had wanted.”

Garbine Muguruza, the reigning Wimbledon champion and a former champion here, eased into the fourth round with a crushing 6-0, 6-2 victory over a former runner-up, Sam Stosur. She next plays the Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko.

Simona Halep, the world No 1, beat Germany’s Andrea Petkovic 7-5, 6-0 and will now meet Belgium’s Elise Mertens. Caroline Garcia, the last home player in singles competition in either the men’s or women’s events, beat Romania’s Irina Begu 6-1, 6-3 and will now face Angelique Kerber, who beat Kiki Bertens 7-6, 7-6.