BIRMINGHAM, England, June 14 (UPI) -- Top-seeded Maria Sharapova of Russia led Wednesday's winners in the second-round of the grass-court DFS Classic at Birmingham, England.
The two-time defending champion beat Ahsha Rolle of the United States, 6-4, 6-2.
Other top-10 seeded winners Wednesday were No. 2 Italian Francesca Schiavone, No. 4 Russian Elena Likhovtseva, No. 5 Japanese Ai Sugiyama and No. 6 Marion Bartoli of France.
Elsewhere, Ayumi Morita of Japan knocked off ninth-seeded Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden, 6-4, 6-3; seventh-seeded Anna Chakvetadze beat No. 8 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, 6-2, 6-1; No. 12 Mara Santangelo of Italy beat unseeded Elena Vesnina of Russia; No. 14 Sania Mirza beat unseeded Shenay Perry of the United States, 7-5, 6-7 (9-7), 6-3; and unseeded Lisa Raymond of the United States, beat No. 15 Samantha Stosur, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-0).
