TORONTO -- Top-seeded Serena Williams made quick work of her first opponent at the Rogers Cup women's tennis tournament Wednesday, defeating Italy's Francesca Schiavone 6-3, 6-2 at Rexall Centre.
Williams, who received a first-round bye, needed 75 minutes to complete the victory on centre court. Her next opponent will be 13th-seeded Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium, who posted a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 win over Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands.
There was one minor upset earlier in the day at the US$2.369-million tournament as 11th-seeded Russian Maria Kirilenko dropped a 7-5, 7-5 decision to Alize Cornet of France. The unseeded Cornet is ranked No. 30 in the world.
Seventh-seeded Marion Bartoli of France looked strong in her first competitive match since winning at Wimbledon last month. She defeated American qualifier Lauren Davis in straight sets.
"I didn't want to put too much pressure on myself because the last two times I played in Toronto I lost first round," she said. "So I just wanted to enjoy myself on the court and try my hardest. Obviously being able to win 6-0, 6-3 was pretty good for me."
Toronto's Sharon Fichman pushed Jelena Jankovic to a tiebreaker in the second set, but the veteran Serb held off the challenge for a 6-4, 7-6 (6) victory. That left Eugenie Bouchard of Montreal as the last Canadian remaining in the singles draw.
Bouchard was scheduled to play defending champion Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic in the late match on centre court.
Several seeded players posted comfortable straight-set victories earlier in the day.
Fourth-seeded Li Na of China beat Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-1, 6-4, fifth-seeded Sara Errani of Italy topped Klara Zakopalova 6-2, 7-6 (2) and 10th-seeded Roberta Vinci of Italy downed Ekaterina Makarova of Russia 6-0, 6-4.
No. 16 seed Ana Ivanovic of Serbia beat Italy's Flavia Pennetta 6-4, 6-4. Ninth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark had a late match against Sorana Cirstea of Romania.
American Sloane Stephens, the No. 14 seed, got by Germany's Mona Barthel 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 while Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia defeated American Varvara Lepchenko 6-4, 6-2.
There was a short rain delay in the morning due to wet weather. Warm, sunny and breezy conditions were the norm through the afternoon and into the evening.
