TORONTO

Italy's Schiavone advances at women's Rogers Cup

The Canadian Press Published Wednesday, August 10, 2011 1:16PM EDT

Winner Francesca Schiavone of Italy, right, shakes hands with Ekaterina Makarova of Russia, left, after their match during the Rogers Cup women's tennis tournament in Toronto on Wednesday, August 10, 2011. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Aaron Vincent Elkaim)

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TORONTO - Italian eighth-seed Francesca Schiavone eased into the third round with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Russia's Ekaterina Makarova on Wednesday.

Schiavone capitalized on five of her nine break point opportunities to win in just over an hour, as play was temporarily halted shortly after the match due to rain.

Makarova, who advanced on Monday by eliminating Vancouver's Rebecca Marino, lost to Schiavone in the second round at last year's tournament.

Meanwhile, a match between the top two Chinese players in women's tennis never materialized. Shuai Peng pulled out of her second-round match against world No. 6 Li Na with a left hip injury.

Peng, who came into the match ranked No. 16, said she first sustained the injury last week in San Diego.

Canadians scheduled for second-round action Wednesday include Aleksandra Wozniak of Blainville, Que., taking on 10th-seeded Australian Samantha Stosur and Stephanie Dubois of Laval, Que., meeting world No. 4 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus.

Denmark's Caroline Wozniaki was scheduled to open her title defence in the afternoon against Roberta Vinci of Italy, followed by American Serena Williams taking on Germany's Julia Goerges.