Mauresmo crushes Schnyder

Schnyder made a stuttering start when her serve was broken by Mauresmo in the first game of the match, with the powerfully-built Frenchwoman using her single-handed backhand to outgun her opponent.

"That's what I wanted today, from the first point really making her play as much as I could, I did that very well at the beginning and felt my game was very effective," Mauresmo said.

The Swiss, who made the quarters here last year and the semis in 2004, managed to break back in the sixth game when Mauresmo's backhand went long.

But Schnyder was unable to prevent another break of serve in the next as the world number three gained confidence and left her stranded with a lob.

Schnyder struggled as Mauresmo continued to move her around the court with her accurate groundstrokes and lost the set when she was broken a third time, hitting a forehand long under pressure from her opponent.

The world No.8 attempted to regroup in the first game of the second but could only shrug her shoulders at her vocal fans in the crowd when Mauresmo came back from 30 points down to claim yet another break.

Mauresmo continued to dominate the game and the Schnyder cheer squad became more muted when Mauresmo snatched another service game to race to a 4-0 lead.

Mauresmo held serve then broke Schnyder for the sixth time to win the match.