Carlsbad, CA – Top-seeded Victoria Azarenka cruised to a straight-set victory Wednesday in second-round action at the $795,000 Southern California Open.
The reigning Australian Open champion and U.S. Open runner-up disposed of Italy's Francesca Schiavone by a 6-2, 6-3 margin on the hardcourts at La Costa Resort and Spa.
Former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, seeded third, was an easy second- round winner Wednesday, whipping fellow left-hander Laura Robson 6-1, 6-2 in just under 75 minutes to advance to the third round.
Fourth-seeded Roberta Vinci of Italy eased past American Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-4, 6-2, while fifth-seeded Australian Samantha Stosur rolled over Sesil Karatantcheva 6-4, 6-1.
In the lone first-round match Wednesday, Serbian Ana Ivanovic, this week's seventh seed, outlasted last year's Carlsbad runner-up Dominika Cibulkova 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in a grueling match that lasted just over two hours.
The 2013 Carlsbad titlist will claim $125,000.
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