Top seed Angelique Kerber safely through, Sharapova advances

World No. 2 Angelique Kerber eased into round two of the Madrid Open on Sunday with a convincing 6-4, 6-2 win over Hungary's Timea Babos.

The German is the top seed in the draw with world number one Serena Williams absent as the 23-time Grand Slam champion is expecting her first child.

Kerber's form has been inconsistent this season, but she was rarely troubled in wrapping up victory in just over an hour on court.

Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova defeated Croatia's Mirjana Lucic-Baroni here on Sunday to advance to the second round of the Madrid Open. Sharapova, now ranked 262 in the world, defeated World No. 20 Lucic-Baroni 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 in the opening round, reports Efe.

The Madrid Open is the second tournament for Sharapova after she returned from a 15-month doping ban. The Russian took part in the Stuttgart Open in April, but was defeated in the semi-finals against France's Kristina Mladenovic.

Sharapova will play the second round against Canadian Eugenie Bouchard, who eliminated France's Alize Cornet on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Karolina Pliskova struggled to beat Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine 7-6 (5), 2-6, 6-2 in the first round of the Madrid Open on Saturday.

Pliskova was up 5-2 in the first set but Tsurenko fought back to force a tiebreaker that Pliskova won by hitting two of her five aces.