Serena Williams Beats Tsvetana Pironkova To Advance In The Third Round In Beijing

Serena Williams of the U.S. competes in a women's singles match against Garbine Muguruza of Spain at the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris May 28, 2014. REUTERS

Serena Williams has advanced in the third round of the 2014 China Open, beating Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3, in in one hour and 12 minutes. Serena's sister Venus has also cruised past the second round after straight sets victory, 6-4, 6-3, over Caroline Garcia of France.

In the first set, Serena fired a single ace. However, a total of 13 winners and 12 unforced errors was enough for Serena to take an early lead in the match. Tsvetana only hit 3 winners in the first set.

Both Serena and Tsvetana held their serves until they were tied at 3-3 in the second set. Serena got her edge over Tsvetana as they continued to rally. All in all, Serena scored 26 winners compared to Pironkova's 10. Serena only had four double faults.

After the first round scare against Spaniard Silvia Soler-Espinosa, to whom Serena had fallen behind 5-0 before she finally got on the scoreboard and eventually winning the match, Serena said she had a clear goal in mind. "Tonight, I was aware that I wanted to start out strong, so I think that was the main difference, was just making sure I was able to win a game early on," Serena said via the China Open's official website.

Serena will face 15th-ranked Lucie Safarova in the third round. According to Serena, Lucie plays good tennis so she will have to play better if she wants to further advance in the Beijing tournament.

Women's Singles Round Two Results on Sept. 30 as compiled by Reuters.com

Serena Williams (U.S.) beat Tsvetana Pironkova (Bulgaria) 6-2 6-3

Ana Ivanovic (Serbia) beat Romina Oprandi (Switzerland) 6-4 6-2

Venus Williams (U.S.) beat Caroline Garcia (France) 6-4 6-3

Carla Suarez Navarro (Spain) beat 14-Flavia Pennetta (Italy) 6-1 3-6 6-2

Sabine Lisicki (Germany) beat 8-Eugenie Bouchard (Canada) 6-2 6-4

Lucie Safarova (Czech Republic) beat Mona Barthel (Germany) 6-3 6-3

Simona Halep (Romania) beat Zhu Lin (China) 7-5 6-4

Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) beat Kurumi Nara (Japan) 6-3 6-1

Angelique Kerber (Germany) beat Zarina Diyas (Kazakhstan) 6-3 6-1

Roberta Vinci (Italy) beat 5-Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland) 6-4 6-4

Maria Sharapova (Russia) beat Elina Svitolina (Ukraine) 6-2 6-2