Azarenka and Sharapova through

Top seed Victoria Azarenka progressed to the third round of the Mutua Madrid Open after a 6-3 7-6 victory over Andrea Hlavackova.

The world number one breezed through the first set in just 37 minutes as she broke her Czech opponent in the sixth game, although she did need to save several break points in the final game of the set.

Hlavackova continued to improve in the second set, breaking Azarenka as she served for the match to take it to a tie-break, in which the Belarusian held her nerve to complete the victory.

World number two Maria Sharapova had a slightly easier route through to round three as she cruised past Klara Zakopalova 6-4 6-3.

The Russian needed just 77 minutes to defeat her 30-year-old opponent, who was blighted by double-faults and had her serve broken a total of five times.

Zakopalova did manage to break Sharapova midway through the second set but it only served to delay the inevitable on the controversial blue clay surface in the Spanish capital.

"It's not so much about the colour. It does look good on television. But it plays a bit different," Sharapova said of the new-look clay.

"It's about the amount of clay on the court and the way it bounces. You have to get used to it but I came here after winning Stuttgart and got in four or five days on it.

"I got settled in so it's just a matter of adjusting. It's also the same for everyone."

Former world number one Ana Ivanovic also booked her place in the third round of the tournament with a 7-5 6-1 victory over Nadia Petrova

Number nine seed Serena Williams progressed to the third round after beating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2 6-1, as did Caroline Wozniacki, who beat Mona Barthel 6-4 7-6.