15 May 2014

Williams leads charge in Rome

12:14 pm on 15 May 2014

World tennis number one Serena Williams led the charge into the third round of the Italian Open, the American great easily beating Germany's Andrea Petkovic 6-2 6-2.

Eighth seeded Russian star Maria Sharapova beat Puerto Rican Monica Puig 6-3 7-5 and Serb 11th seed Ana Ivanovic got past Alize Cornet of France 7-6 7-5.

Sixth seeded Serb Jelena Jankovic had a walkover when Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova retired while trailing by a set and 4-0.

Also through are third seeded Pole Agnieszka Radwanska, Australia's Samantha Stosur, local hope Flavia Pennetta and Romania's fourth seed Simona Halep.