Serena, Li proceed to next round of Rogers Cup

Serena Williams

Serena Williams joins three other top players who were playing their maiden appearance on the North American hard courts.

Winner of Wimbledon, Marion Bartoli won 6-0 6-3 against Lauren Davis, Li Na of China also won convincingly in two sets (6-1 6-4) over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia.

Serena played with an aggressive mood to beat Schiavone (6-3 6-2).

“Usually I have a lot of nerves going out there, but in the beginning, I was so relaxed,” said Williams, who won a claycourt tournament in Sweden after Wimbledon.

“I always feel that way when I’m playing a grand slam champion. I just feel a little bit more relaxed and ready to play.”

Bartolli continued her winning run from Wimbledon as she beat Lauren Davis easily.

“I never played against Lauren before,” Bartoli said.

“I think overall I did pretty well considering the amount of pressure I was under, being the Wimbledon champion and have to step on the court in a tournament where I lost first round the last two times I played.”