Charleston, SC (Sports Network) - Russian superstar Maria Sharapova and top- seeded defending champion Jelena Jankovic were easy second-round winners Wednesday at the $1.34 million Family Circle Cup tennis event.
The second-seeded Sharapova waxed American Bethanie Mattek 6-0, 6-0 as Sharapova needed less than an hour to advance to the third round.
The high-flying Sharapova is an awesome 23-1 this season, including three titles in four events. She captured her third career major title at the Australian Open back in January and is fresh off her championship at Amelia Island last week.
Jankovic handled American qualifier Alexandra Stevenson 7-5, 6-0 on the green clay at Family Circle Tennis Center. The Serbian star bested Russian Dinara Safina in last year's finale here.
Up next for Jankovic on Thursday will be Russian Anastasia Rodionova.
Other top-10-seeded stars advancing on Day 3 were No. 4 Russian Elena Dementieva, No. 7 Swiss Patty Schnyder and No. 9 Russian Vera Zvonareva. Dementieva drubbed American Jill Craybas 6-0, 6-2, while Schnyder stopped Belarusian Olga Govortsova 7-6 (7-2), 6-0 and Zvonareva zipped past Spaniard Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-1, 6-0. Schnyder was the runner-up here in 2002 and 2006.
Eleventh-seeded Pole Agnieszka Radwanska overcame Romanian Edina Gallovits 6-7 (7-9), 6-2, 7-5, 12th-seeded Slovenian Katarina Srebotnik came back to beat Czech qualifier Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 and 13th-seeded Belarusian Victoria Azarenka defeated Chinese qualifier Tiantian Sun 7-6 (7-4), 6-0. Srebotnik is rewarded with a third-round bout against former top- ranked American star Serena Williams, this week's fifth seed.
Additional second-round victories came for the aforementioned Rodionova, France's Alize Cornet and Ukrainian Tatiana Perebiynis.
The 2008 Family Circle winner will earn $196,900.
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