Former world No.1 Maria Sharapova ended Alicia Molik's French Open with a straight-sets defeat of the Australian in their third-round encounter at Roland Garros.
Molik lost 6-0 7-5 in 69 minutes to the fourth seed, who was cheered on by former Russian president Boris Yeltsin at courtside.
Despite her exit, it's been an encouraging tournament for Molik, marking the beginning of her comeback from a long-term inner-ear infection, with the second set showing she still had the game to challenge the best when she is back to match fitness and touch.
In the first set, that touch was absent, as Molik sprayed the ball around, hit the ball with the frame several times, en route to a match total of 28 unforced errors as opposed to Sharapova's 16.
The first set, in front of a big crowd on Court Suzanne Lenglen, was over in a humiliating 24 minutes, with Molik staring down the barrel of a dreaded grand slam 'double-bagel', to match the one she suffered at the 2001 Australian Open against Silvija Talaja.
Molik had begun slowly in both the first and second rounds, but against a more talented opponent, her lack of touch and confidence were remorselessly exposed.
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But Molik landed a big winner in the first point of the second set, and for a brief time, looked like a player transformed.
She won that game to encouraging cheers of a crowd urging a contest, then broke Sharapova to go up 2-0, and raced to 40-0 on her own serve in the third game.
But from that strong position she lost the game, allowed Sharapova to get back on serve before the Russian broke Molik in the 11th game and then closed out the match.
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