Paris: Spanish tennis player Garbiñe Muguruza advanced to the third round of the French Open with a routine 6-1, 6-4 victory here over Italy’s Camila Giorgi.

Back at the Grand Slam tournament where she made her first big splash as a professional last year defeating American World No.1 Serena Williams in the second round and then going on to reach the quarter-finals, the 21-year-old Muguruza delivered a solid performance on Court 2 to defeat the Italian in one hour and 17 minutes, reports Efe.

The big-hitting Spaniard led 6-1, 5-1 but took her foot off the gas pedal at that juncture before closing out the contest.

Next up for Muguruza in the third round is Germany’s Angelique Kerber, the No.11 seed, who defeated Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic 6-3, 6-2; Muguruza has lost her previous three matches against Kerber, although none of those was played on red clay.

“Every time I’ve been closer to beating her… She’s having a good season on clay, but I don’t think she’s happy to be playing me,” the 21st-seeded Spaniard said of the 27-year-old Kerber, who won clay-court titles in Charleston and Stuttgart earlier this year.

“I’ll be up for the challenge,” Muguruza added, recalling that in their last match in Sydney she felt she had the match under control before the German used her experience to turn it around and win 0-6, 6-1, 6-4.