Two-time champion Serena Williams and reigning titlist Maria Sharapova were a pair of three-set third-round winners Wednesday at the Madrid Open tennis event.
The world No. 1 Williams escaped with a 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 7-6 (7-1) victory over unseeded former top-ranked star and two-time Madrid runner-up Victoria Azarenka on the red clay at the Magic Box.
Williams is now 15-3 lifetime against the Belarusian Azarenka, including a win in the 2012 Madrid finale.
The 33-year-old Williams, who captured back-to-back Madrid titles in 2012 and 2013, still has yet to lose this year, going 23-0, and the powerful American has won her last 26 matches overall, dating back to November.
Meanwhile, the third-seeded former world No. 1 Sharapova held off rising Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 on Day 5.
The French Open champion Sharapova topped Romanian Simona Halep in last year's Madrid final and was the 2013 runner-up here to Williams.
Fourth-seeded 2011 Madrid titlist Petra Kvitova reached the quarterfinals by handling Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-1, 6-4.
Another third-round result saw Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu douse Czech Barbora Strycova 6-4, 6-4. Begu is rewarded with a quarterfinal against the reigning Wimbledon champ Kvitova.
[SportsNetwork.com]
