Maria Sharapova sailed into the third round of the French Open on Wednesday with a comfortable 6-3 6-1 victory over compatriot Vitalia Diatchenko.

The Russian reigning champion had made short work of seeing off Kaia Kanepi in round one, but was even more ruthless as she saw off her 91st-ranked opponent in 80 minutes.

Sharapova - who has been suffering from a cold this week - was quick out of the blocks on Philippe-Chatrier Court as she opened with a break of serve, but was pegged back to 2-2 as Diatchenko refused to go down without a fight.

The world number two continued to cause Diatchenko problems on her own serve, though, and, after converting her third break point to go 3-2 in front, was unfortunate not to stretch her advantage in a marathon seventh game.

Sharapova put the set to bed with another break of serve and survived two break points herself in the opening game of the second before racing into a commanding 5-0 lead.

The 28-year-old actually committed more double faults (5) than her opponent (4), but was gifted 26 points through unforced errors during the match.

Diatchenko saved a break point as she finally made an impression on the scoresheet to take the scores to 5-1, but struck long in the next to hand the win to Sharapova.

Sharapova, who will meet Samantha Stosur of Australia in the next round, was booed following her opening-round win for refusing to do an on-court interview and again made a swift exit on Wednesday.