Maria Sharapova sets up box office Karolina Pliskova tie at the French Open

Maria Sharapova will take on world No. 6 Karolina Pliskova in arguably the most mouth-watering match at the French Open thus far.

The Russian defeated Croatia’s Donna Vekic 7-5 6-4 to progress to the third round, in a match that caused her only a little less grief than her testing opener.

She had found herself a break down in the final set against Richel Hogenkamp but there was slightly less drama against Vekic during a match that lasted just short of two hours.

That’s not to say it was easy, Sharapova failed to serve out the match up 5-3 in the second and lost serve on four occasions against the world No. 50, but she eventually got over the line.

The result leaves her facing one of the most feared players on the WTA Tour, in what promises to be a thrilling encounter.

Pliskova has enjoyed a good clay-court season, winning the title in Stuttgart and reaching the semi-finals in Madrid and the former world No. 1 represents a serious threat to Sharapova’s hopes for a third French Open title.

The Czech was forced to work hard to battle beyond compatriot Lucie Safarova, clawing her way back from a set down to win 3-6 6-4 6-1.

Incredibly, the pair have only met once before and never on the WTA Tour.

Sharapova won that hard-court match in the 2015 Fed Cup final 6-3 6-4, though the Czechs had the last laugh over the Russians as they won 3-2.