Sharapova shrugs off injury to progress

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The 20-year-old Russian has been out of action for two months because of severe tendinitis in her shoulder, but was determined to make it to Roland Garros in a bid to claim one of the two grand-slam titles she is yet to win.

The second seed made a solid start to her campaign with a 6-3 7-6 (7/4) victory over Frenchwoman Emilie Loit on day four in Paris, but admitted: "My shoulder is still not where I want it to be, it's still not perfect. At times I feel it, and it's there. But as long as the doctors give me the okay, as long as I can play through the aches and the pains, I'm willing to do it."

Sharapova joined fifth-seed and home favourite Amelie Mauresmo, as well as third-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, in being the last of the big names to progress from the first round.

Mauresmo survived a belated fightback from Laura Granville to secure a 6-0 7-5 victory on Suzanne Lenglen court, while last year's runner-up Kuznetsova cruised past fellow Russian Ekaterina Bychkova 6-0 6-3.

Wednesday saw the second round start, and reigning champion Justine Henin was the star attraction.

The diminutive Belgian, the top seed here, is looking to win her third straight Roland Garros title, and she made it into round three following a 7-5 6-1 triumph over 16-year-old Tamira Paszek, of Austria.

"I started the match pretty well but at 5-0, I lost my intensity," she said. "I needed to have a lot of humility, fight back and I am very happy with the way I finished. That's a positive I can take out of this."

Venus Williams sent down the biggest woman's serve in grand-slam history during her 6-1 7-6 (10/8) second-round victory over plucky fellow American Ashley Harkleroad.

Williams, the 26th seed, unleashed a serve of 128m/h to overtake her previous mark of 125m/h, produced at Wimbledon in 1998 and 2001 and the US Open in 2004.