Maria Sharapova tips Sloane Stephens to "have a great career"

World number two Maria Sharapova has tipped Sloane Stephens to "have a great career" after comfortably beating the American in straight sets to reach the French Open quarter-finals.

The Russian, who is seeded second at Roland Garros, defeated Stephens 6-4 6-3 inside 129 minutes on Monday.

Despite the ease of her victory, Sharapova believes that there is much more to come from the 20-year-old, who shot to fame by beating Serena Williams en route to the semi-finals of the Australian Open earlier this year.

"I think she has a tremendous amount of potential," Sharapova told reporters.

"There's a lot of room for a few things to improve and I think she will. I think she has a big game. She has big strokes and a pretty good serve.

"If she's in the right hands at the right time, I'm sure she's going to have a great career."

Sharapova will now face Jelena Jankovic in the last eight in Paris.