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The world number two, wearing a long-sleeved top despite the
warm temperatures on Court Philippe Chatrier possibly due to the
cold she has been suffering from, took a while to get into her
stride but romped away from her 91st-ranked opponent.
Sharapova, who has won two of the last three French Opens and
was beaten by Serena Williams in the 2013 final, broke serve in
the first game but a double fault gifted Diatchenko a break back
to 2-2.
Diatchenko then coughed up two double faults in the next game to
hand the advantage back to Sharapova and another double fault
brought a lukewarm first set to a conclusion.
Sharapova then powered through the second set in 35 minutes,
offering up few errors.
Things will toughen up for the five-times grand slam champion in
the next round when she faces Australia's Samantha Stosur, the
runner-up in 2010 and twice a semi-finalist, who she beat in the
fourth round last year.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Julien Pretot)
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