• Rome Open

Schiavone thrills crowd with win over McHale

Francesca Schiavone was much too good for Christina McHale © Getty Images

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Francesca Schiavone came through a tough first set to ease into the third round of the Rome Open with a 6-3 6-1 win over Christina McHale.

United States teenager McHale is rated highly and she demonstrated exactly why with some fine play in the first set. She hit well from the back of the court on both wings and was not afraid to raid the net as Schiavone was forced to dig deep.

But for all her potential, McHale was up against the French Open champion and Schiavone found her stride mid-way through the first set. A solitary break was enough to take the first set and she showed her class by running through four games unanswered at the start of the second set.

McHale found the quality exerted by Schiavone at the start of the second set too much to handle, with her serve faltering under pressure. A string of short balls and double faults were served up and Schiavone did not pass up the gifts.

McHale avoided the bagel by taking the fifth game, but it proved to be only a brief revival as Schiavone reeled off some fabulous groundstrokes, included her imperious backhand, to wrap up victory in front of her adorping Italian public in an hour and 10 minutes.

Maria Sharapova joined Schiavone in the third round with a straight sets victory over fellow Russian Elena Makarova. The seventh seed needed less than an hour to overpower her compatriot 6-1 6-1.

In the day's first-round action, Andrea Petkovic booked her place in the second round with a straight sets victory over Maria Kirilenko. The No. 12 seed struggled in the opening set, and was broken three times, but hung on to claim a late break before sealing the opening set. The second set was easier as the German marched to a 7-5 6-1 victory.

Injury denied the crowd a battle of two Italians, as Roberto Vinci was forced to retire when a set down to Sara Errani. Alberta Brianti thrilled the home crowd with a battling 6-4 7-5 win over Jie Zheng.

Lucie Safarova showed her battling qualities to see off veteran Japan player Kimiko Date-Krumm 7-5 6-2.

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