Paris (AFP) - Top seed Simona Halep and US Open winner Dominic Thiem swept into the last 16 at Roland Garros on Friday (Oct 2).

Title favourite Halep, the 2018 champion, avenged last year's French Open loss to Amanda Anisimova by thrashing the American teenager 6-0, 6-1 in just 54 minutes.

Reigning Wimbledon champion Halep made only seven unforced errors as she stretched her career-best winning run to 17 matches.

"I think I played a really good match. I was very aggressive and I knew from last year I had to change something and I did that today," said Halep, dedicating the win to her coach.

"It's a gift for Darren (Cahill) because it's his birthday."

Halep meets another 19-year-old opponent, Poland's Iga Swiatek, for a place in the quarter-finals.

She dropped just one game when the pair met here in the last 16 a year ago.

"I played against her before," said Halep. "She's hitting strong and flat. I have to stay focused on myself. I really want to win again."

Halep's status as the women's front runner was reinforced following the withdrawal of Serena Williams, on top of the absence of world number one and defending champion Ashleigh Barty, as well as US Open winner Naomi Osaka.

Meanwhile Thiem, the runner-up to Nadal in Paris the past two years, broke down early resistance from Norway's Casper Ruud to secure an impressive 6-4, 6-3, 6-1 victory.

Two-time quarter-finalist Elina Svitolina also ensured she will stick around for the second week in Paris with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Russia's Ekaterina Alexandrova, the 27th seed. Treasure every match

Ukrainian Svitolina is full of confidence after capturing her 15th career WTA at Strasbourg last weekend.

"It's always really nice to have another chance to go deep in the tournament," she said.

"It's a little bit different without the crowd, so you start to treasure every match and every Grand Slam you play."

Swiatek dismissed former Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard 6-3, 6-2 to seal a return to the last 16, matching her best result at a Major.