Thirteen-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams has reached the second round of the $5.2 million Madrid Open after thrashing Russia's Elena Vesnina on Monday.
Williams continued her unbeaten record against Vesnina with a 6-1, 6-3 win on the Madrid clay and will now face another Russian in the second round in the shape of world No. 25 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Williams racked up 13 aces and 40 winners on her way to a dominant victory, achieving four breaks of serve in a 69-minute match.
Australian open quarterfinalist Ekaterina Makarova reached the second round by beating Kazakhstan’s Galina Voskoboeva on Monday.
Makarova, at world No. 41 ranked one place above Voskoboeva, prevailed 6-2, 7-6(3) in a match between the two Moscow-born players to tilt their head-to-head record 3-2 in Makarova’s favor.
A second-round tie with Russian 16th seed Maria Kirilenko now awaits Makarova. Kirilenko has won two of their three previous meetings, although Makarova was victorious on their only previous match on clay when the two met in Estoril in 2009.
Elsewhere in the draw, world No. 4 Petra Kvitova swept aside New Zealander Marina Erakovic 6-2, 6-3, and will now face fellow Czech Lucie Hradecka, ranked 105th in the world.
Last week’s Estoril winner Kaia Kanepi of Estonia lost to Lucie Safarova, ranked three places above Kanepi at No. 23. Safarova won 6-4, 6-4 and will now play either Jelena Jankovic or Carla Suarez Navarro in the second round.
Russian No. 1 Maria Sharapova secured her place in the second round Sunday with a 6-0, 6-3 demolition of Romanian player Irina-Camelia Begu and will now face Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic, whom Sharapova beat at Wimbledon last year.
