KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. — Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan defeated 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone of Italy 6-4, 6-2 on Tuesday to advance to a second-round match against top-seeded Serena Williams at the Sony Open.
Williams, who will open defence of her title against the 59th-ranked Shvedova on Thursday, has won all three matches they’ve played.
Williams did drop a set to Shvedova in their 2012 Wimbledon fourth round meeting.
American Varvara Lepchenko defeated Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium, but fellow American Bethanie Mattek-Sands fell to Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
Monica Puig of Puerto Rico, who lives in Miami, defeated Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia 6-1, 7-6 (7).