Top seed Serena Williams advanced to the third round of the Montreal Open in Toronto with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Italian Francesca Schiavone.
The 31-year-old American took eight games in succession to comfortably defeat the world number 57 on hard court. It was her fifth victory in seven meetings with the 33-year-old.
“I felt solid,” Williams said. “Obviously I made a few errors, but it’s my first match on hard in a really long time. I also played a really good player, so it was a good match.”
Williams will be up against Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium in the next round after the 13th seed beat Kiki Bertens 7-5, 3-6, 6-2.
Marion Bartoli, who defeated Sabine Lisicki in Wimbledon finals, returned from injury to beat American qualifiers Lauren Davis 6-0, 6-3.
It was Bartoli’s first tournament since winning at the All England Club, having pulled out of the Southern California Open last week due to a hamstring injury.
Caroline Wozniacki was a surprise 5-7, 7-6 (7-0), 6-4, loser to Romania’s Sorano Cirstea as Australia’s Samantha Stosur saw off Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro 1-6, 6-2, 6-3.
2006 winner Ana Ivanovic beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-1, 6-4.
