PARIS (Reuters) - A merciless Maria Sharapova whizzed past unheralded Romanian Alexandra Cadantu 6-0 6-0 to book her place in the second round of the French Open on Tuesday.

Russian second seed Sharapova was her usual sulky, aggressive self, peppering a sunsoaked Court Suzanne Lenglen with winners to crush the world number 78 in 48 minutes.

Sharapova, who has a chance of taking over from Victoria Azarenka as world number one depending of the Belarussian's run in Paris, blew kisses to the crowd after wrapping it up when Cadantu sent a backhand long on the first match point.

The Russian, who needs the French crown to complete her grand slam title collection, will next face Japan's Ayumi Morita.

(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Pritha Sarkar)