Toronto: Top-seeded Serena Williams easily won her opening match in the Rogers Cup, beating Italy's Francesca Schiavone 6-3, 6-2 on Wednesday at Rexall Centre.
Williams, coming off a victory 2½ weeks ago in the Swedish Open, set up a third-round match Thursday against 13th-seeded Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium. Flipkens edged Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands 7-5, 3-6, 6-2.
Earlier, Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli returned from a hamstring injury that sidelined her since her major victory, beating American qualifier Lauren Davis 6-0, 6-3.
"I didn't want to put too much pressure on myself because the last two times I played in Toronto I lost in the first round," said Bartoli, who is seeded seventh. "So I just wanted to enjoy myself on the court and try my hardest. Obviously being able to win 6-love, 6-3 was pretty good for me."
Fourth-seeded Li Na of China downed Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-1, 6-4, fifth-seeded Sara Errani of Italy edged Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 7-6 (2) and Frenchwoman Alize Cornet defeated 11th-seeded Maria Kirilenko of Russia 7-5, 7-5.
America's Sloane Stephens also advanced to the third round, beating Germany's Mona Barthel 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. In late matches, sixth-seeded Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic edged Canada's Eugenie Bouchard 6-3, 6-2, and 12th-seeded Samantha Stosur of Australia beat Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro 1-6, 6-2, 6-3.
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