Sharapova eases past Rodionova to reach third-round at Cincinnati

Former World No. 1 Maria Sharapova of Russia earned a comprehensive straight sets 6-1 6-3 win over Australian Anastasia Rodionova and reached the third-round of the 2011 Cincinnati Open.

World No. 7 Maria Sharapova of Russia made quick in-roads into the match and never looked back from there. Though, the Russian looked in some trouble in the second-set, she quickly regrouped herself to register a comprehensive 6-1 6-3 win over Australian Anastasia Rodionova and secured her berth in the third-round of the 2011 Cincinnati Open. It took only 1 hour and 7 minutes for Sharapova to win this match. The Russian fired 27 massive winners and earned 68% points on her first serve. She also converted 6 out of 7 break points to surge through. In the next round, Sharapova will take on the winner of the match between her compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova and Petra Cetkovska of Czech Republic.

Earlier in the day, French Open champion Na Li posted a comprehensive 6-3, 6-4 win over another Czech Lucie Safarova to make it to the second round of the WTA event. She was later joined by 13th seed Jelena Jankovic, a champion here in 2009, who beat the third Czech in action, Iveta Benesova 6-0, 6-3 to keep her title hopes alive. On the other hand, former World No.1 Serena Williams posted a hard-earned win over Lucie Hradecka with a 6-3, 7-6(5) scoreline in 100 minutes to advance to the second round of the 2011 Western and Southern Open.

Italian Flavia Pennetta and Belgian Yanina Wickmayer also recorded contrasting wins over their respective opponents to move ahead in the draw.