STANFORD: World No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska easily defeated Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 6-3 in her opening match at the WTA Tour’s Stanford tournament on Wednesday.
Radwanska, the top seed in the hardcourt tournament, had a bye through the first round, and won 60% of her first serve points in the 84-minute second round contest.
She will now face sixth-seeded American Varvara Lepchenko who beat Tamira Paszek 6-4, 6-4 earlier Wednesday.
This was the eighth career meeting between the two since Schiavone won their first match 7-5, 2-6, 6-1 in the semi-finals in Luxembourg in 2006. Schiavone went on to win the next three meetings. Radwanska, after Wednesday’s match, has won the last four, all in straight sets.
Radwanska is seeking her third title of the year after winning in Auckland and Sydney. She has 12 career singles titles, including 10 on hardcourts.
In the only other match on Wednesday, fifth seed Sorana Cirstea cruised past American qualifier Coco Vandeweghe 6-3, 6-3.
Cirstea moves on to the next round where she will face Olga Govortsova who upset second seed Samantha Stosur in staight sets 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
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