Sharapova, Kvitova ease into 3rd round in Madrid
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Madrid, Spain (SportsNetwork.com) - Reigning champion Maria Sharapova and former titlist Petra Kvitova were among Tuesday's second-round winners at the Madrid Open tennis event.
The third-seeded former world No. 1 Sharapova blitzed Colombian qualifier Mariana Duque-Marino 6-1, 6-2, while the fourth-seeded Kvitova held off American Coco Vandeweghe 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 on the red clay at the Magic Box.
The French Open champion Sharapova topped Romanian Simona Halep in last year's Madrid finale and was the 2013 runner-up here to American great Serena Williams.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Wimbledon champ Kvitova was the Madrid titlist back in 2011.
In other action involving seeds, rising Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia took out No. 14 Czech Karolina Pliskova 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 and Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova upended No. 15 Italian Sara Errani 3-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-4. Pliskova was fresh off her clay-court title in Prague.
Also on Day 4, Czech Barbora Strycova topped American Varvara Lepchenko 6-4, 6-2 and former world No. 1 and two-time Madrid runner-up Victoria Azarenka erased Croat Ajla Tomljanovic 6-3, 6-3.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Azarenka is rewarded with a third-round match against the current world No. 1 Williams, who captured back-to-back Madrid titles in 2012 and 2013 and has yet to lose this year, going 22-0. The powerful American has won her last 25 matches overall, dating back to November.
Williams is 14-3 lifetime against the Belarusian star Azarenka, including a victory in the 2012 final here in Madrid.