Serena enters 4th round, Sharapova next

Serena Williams produced the best performance of her Grand Slam comeback to beat 11th-seeded Julia Goerges of Germany 6-3, 6-4 and reach the French Open's fourth round.

Next up for Williams as she competes in a major tournament for the first time in 16 months - and since giving birth in September - will be a familiar foe: Maria Sharapova.

The 36-year-old Williams set up that showdown with a clean-hitting tour de force against Goerges.

Williams made only three unforced errors in the opening set, 12 in all. She won 12 consecutive points on her serve in one stretch.

The most-anticipated matchup for a quarterfinal spot at Roland Garros pits 23-time major champion Williams against five-time major champion Sharapova. The head-to-head history is overwhelmingly in Williams' favor: She has won 19 of 21 meetings, including 18 in a row.

Maria Sharapova easily handled the big serve of No 6-seeded Karolina Pliskova and overwhelmed her 6-2, 6-1 to move closer to a possible French Open showdown against Serena Williams.

Sharapova has won two of her five Grand Slam titles at Roland Garros and is now into the fourth round for the 12th time in 14 appearances at the clay-court major.

Simona Halep has advanced to the fourth round of the French Open for the third straight year, beating Andrea Petkovic of Germany 7-5, 6-0.

The top-seeded Romanian has never lost to Petkovic, and four of her seven wins have been on clay.

Sloane Stephens is through to the fourth round of the French Open for a fifth time in her seven visits to Roland Garros.

The 10th-seeded American beat Camila Giorgi of Italy 4-6, 6-1, 8-6 on Saturday.

Third-seeded Garbine Muguruza of Spain has crushed Samantha Stosur 6-0, 6-2 to advance to the fourth round of the French Open.

The 2016 champion at Roland Garros lost her serve just once to the Australian, who won the 2011 US Open and made the semifinals in Roland Garros in 2016, 2012 and 2009. She will now face Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine in the fourth round.