Sharapova, Azarenka cruise into third round

Past and present Wimbledon winners Maria Sharapova and Czech Petra Kvitova made straight-set moves into the third round of the Rome Masters yesterday, with the Russian second seed made to work hard.

Defending Rome champion Sharapova, who won her Wimbledon title aged 17 in 2004, beat 36th-ranked American Christina McHale 7-5, 7-5. Kvitova, the fourth seed who claimed the grass honours last summer, accounted for Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-5, 6-4

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