Johansson gives Wozniacki lift

Former world number one Caroline Wozniacki is confident her relationship with new coach Thomas Johansson will bear fruit.

The Dane was speaking after easing into the third round of the French Open on Thursday afternoon with a 6-1 6-4 victory over Jarmila Gajdosova.

Wozniacki is flying a bit under the radar at Roland Garros after a poor start to the year where she has failed to win a title and has dropped from world number one to nine.

Johansson is not in Paris but will link up again with Wozniacki when she gets back home to Monaco, where they both live.

The 21-year-old said: "I worked with him for a couple weeks before (the French Open), and he's a great guy first of all. We have a good connection. Also he lives just underneath me, which makes everything easy when you're going to go for practice.

"He's played on the tour before. He's won the Australian Open. He has the experience. He knows the women players because he's been commentating.

"I think he can come with some advice and some maybe tactical things that he could see. He's a hard worker as well, and I think that really suits me.

"He tells me what he thinks and he's not soft. I don't like it when someone tells me, 'Oh, it's great, it's great' when it's actually terrible."

One benefit of Wozniacki's slide down the rankings is she no longer has to justify her number one position without having won a grand slam.

She said of her approach to the tournament: "I don't think about the rankings. I think about this tournament that I'm playing. I'm going to give everything in this tournament and we'll see how it goes.

"I'm happy that I'm healthy. That's the main thing. As a sportsperson, it's frustrating when you cannot give 100% or you feel like you're out there and competing and you know you can do better but your body just doesn't allow you."

Maria Sharapova's clash with Ayumi Morita was put back to tomorrow because of the latest John Isner marathon but Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova eased into the third round with a 6-1 6-3 victory over Urszula Radwanska.

Kvitova had a stellar 2011, winning six titles, including on the grass of SW19 and at the season-ending WTA Championships, but, like Wozniacki, this year has been tougher for the Czech.

Injury and illness have taken their toll and she is still looking for her first title having dropped to world number four, although so far at Roland Garros she has been exemplary.

Kvitova said: "I don't have any expectation. I know that last season was great for me, and it will be very tough to have similar results as last year.

"I know this season will be very tough with the pressure and with everything else. But I just would like to improve my game and be focused in every practice, every match."

Defending champion Li Na extended her record to only five games dropped in two rounds with a 6-0 6-2 victory over Stephanie Foretz Gacon, while the woman she beat in the final last year, Francesca Schiavone, recovered from losing the first set to beat Tsvetana Pironkova 2-6 6-3 6-1.

But it was the end of the road for Tuesday's hero, France's Virginie Razzano unable to build on her stunning upset of Serena Williams as she lost 6-3 7-6 (7/3) to Arantxa Rus.

Two seeds were sent tumbling, Maria Kirilenko losing 6-4 3-6 6-3 to Klara Zakopalova while Jelena Jankovic was beaten 7-6 (7/4) 4-6 6-4 by Varvara Lepchenko, who could yet deny Venus Williams a place in the US Olympic team.

Tenth seed Angelique Kerber, who has made huge strides over the past year, saw off Olga Govortsova 6-3 6-2, while Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Peng Shuai, Julia Goerges and Kaia Kanepi are also through.