Wednesday 29 May 2019 14:54, UK
Ninth seed Elina Svitolina was given a free passage through to the third round of the French Open on Wednesday morning.
Svitolina had been due to face Kateryna Kozlova but her fellow Ukrainian was forced to withdraw from the tournament because of a viral infection.
Svitolina will take on former champion Garbine Muguruza next after the Spaniard dispatched Sweden's Johanna Larsson in a 6-4 6-1 victory which included 16 winners.
Seeded 19th this year, Muguruza won the title at Roland Garros in 2016 when she upset Serena Williams in the final.
Both players have been tagged among the tournament favourites and Svitolina has a 5-3 win-loss record against Muguruza.
"Maybe it's a bit too early, but too bad. It will be a very interesting match to play," said Muguruza. "I think it's a great third round for both of us. Well, personally, it's the type of matches that I want to play. It can be, you know, any deep-round match, but it's in the third round. So it's going to be a good one."
Seventh seed Sloane Stephens hit 24 winners and converted all seven break points to beat Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-1 7-6 (7-3) on Court Philippe-Chatrier to advance.
World No 20 Elise Mertens was at her clinical best as she thumped France's 16-year-old wildcard Diane Parry 6-1 6-3.
Second seed Karolina Pliskova has been making swift progress through the draw so far and was detained for only 56 minutes by Kristina Kucova in a 6-2 6-2 victory.
Pliskova, a semi-finalist here two years ago, arrived in Paris with her confidence sky high after winning the big WTA title in Rome last weekend.
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