<p>Top seed and defending champion Serena Williams cruised past teenage qualifier Belinda Bencic into the Madrid Open second round on Sunday as the world number one began her quest for a 60th career title.<br /><br />American Williams, chasing a third consecutive triumph at the premier clay event in the Spanish capital, dispatched the 17-year-old Swiss, ranked 98th, 6-2, 6-1 to set up a meeting with unseeded Chinese Peng Shuai.<br /><br />Bencic, the youngest player in the top 100, broke the Williams serve once in the opening set but crumbled thereafter and lost her own five times.<br /><br />Williams was looking fresh after a month off following her second-round defeat in Charleston and sealed victory with her 11th ace of the match for her 13th consecutive win in the Spanish capital.<br /><br />"I was playing such a young player and she had nothing to lose and she has such a bright future so it wasn't very easy going out there," Williams said in an interview made available by the WTA.<br /><br />"But it feels good to get a win under my belt on clay," added the 32-year-old, a 17-times Grand Slam singles champion.<br /><br />"I think I played well, I went for a lot of winners and they actually went in so I was like wow.</p>.<p><br />"I love the crowd here, I love the Spanish. They just have so much life."<br /><br />Williams was joined in the second round by Czech fifth seed Petra Kvitova, who had a tough test against unseeded Romanian Sorana Cirstea before coming through 6-1, 5-7, 7-6 (7-4).<br /><br />Seventh-seeded German Angelique Kerber was trailing French qualifier Caroline Garcia 6-3, 2-0 when she had to retire because of a back injury.</p>.<p>"I've been feeling my back for a few days now and felt it again in the first set and it was getting worse as the match went on," Kerber said.<br /><br />Maria Sharapova of Russia, the eighth seed, and 11th-seeded Serb Ana Ivanovic also went through, seeing off Czech Klara Koukalova and American Madison Keys respectively.<br />In Monday’s matches, third seed Agnieszka Radwanska got the better off teen sensation Eugenie Bouchard 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, while second seed Li Na dumped Kirsten Flipkens 6-1, 7-6 (8-6). </p>
<p>Top seed and defending champion Serena Williams cruised past teenage qualifier Belinda Bencic into the Madrid Open second round on Sunday as the world number one began her quest for a 60th career title.<br /><br />American Williams, chasing a third consecutive triumph at the premier clay event in the Spanish capital, dispatched the 17-year-old Swiss, ranked 98th, 6-2, 6-1 to set up a meeting with unseeded Chinese Peng Shuai.<br /><br />Bencic, the youngest player in the top 100, broke the Williams serve once in the opening set but crumbled thereafter and lost her own five times.<br /><br />Williams was looking fresh after a month off following her second-round defeat in Charleston and sealed victory with her 11th ace of the match for her 13th consecutive win in the Spanish capital.<br /><br />"I was playing such a young player and she had nothing to lose and she has such a bright future so it wasn't very easy going out there," Williams said in an interview made available by the WTA.<br /><br />"But it feels good to get a win under my belt on clay," added the 32-year-old, a 17-times Grand Slam singles champion.<br /><br />"I think I played well, I went for a lot of winners and they actually went in so I was like wow.</p>.<p><br />"I love the crowd here, I love the Spanish. They just have so much life."<br /><br />Williams was joined in the second round by Czech fifth seed Petra Kvitova, who had a tough test against unseeded Romanian Sorana Cirstea before coming through 6-1, 5-7, 7-6 (7-4).<br /><br />Seventh-seeded German Angelique Kerber was trailing French qualifier Caroline Garcia 6-3, 2-0 when she had to retire because of a back injury.</p>.<p>"I've been feeling my back for a few days now and felt it again in the first set and it was getting worse as the match went on," Kerber said.<br /><br />Maria Sharapova of Russia, the eighth seed, and 11th-seeded Serb Ana Ivanovic also went through, seeing off Czech Klara Koukalova and American Madison Keys respectively.<br />In Monday’s matches, third seed Agnieszka Radwanska got the better off teen sensation Eugenie Bouchard 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, while second seed Li Na dumped Kirsten Flipkens 6-1, 7-6 (8-6). </p>