Maria Sharapova [Images] was given a brief scare on her way to a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Russian qualifier Alla Kudryavtseva in the French Open third round at Roland Garros on Saturday.

The second seeded Russian had her serve broken three times in the second set to fall 4-1 behind before the 20-year-old rattled off five games in a row to take the match.

Sharapova, who returned recently from a right shoulder injury, started well enough against a player making her main draw debut at Roland Garros, taking the opening set in 28 minutes.

A string of double faults and wild groundstrokes threw her off course in the second set as 19-year-old Kudryavtseva threatened to extend the two-times Grand Slam champion into a third set.

Seventh seed Ana Ivanovic showed no mercy to Romanian qualifier Ioana Raluca Olaru and romped into the fourth round with a 6-2, 6-0 victory.

Ranked 122 in the world and making her Grand Slam debut at Roland Garros, Olaru was predictably overawed by the imposing surroundings of the Suzanne Lenglen court and rolled over in 65 minutes.

After dropping just nine games in her three matches so far, Ivanovic looks set to at least equal her best performance in Paris of reaching the quarter-finals when she meets either Daniela Hantuchova [Images] or Anabel Medina Garrigues in the last 16.