Svitolina and Sharapova through Rome openers

Defending champion Elina Svitolina and three-time winner Maria Sharapova won their opening matches at the Internazionali BNP d’Italia in Rome on Tuesday.

Svitolina, the No.4 seed, beat Petra Martic 6-1 6-2 to reach the third round, while Sharapova saw off Ash Barty 7-5 3-6 6-2 to reach round two.

On a rain-interrupted day, Svitolina managed to hit 24 winners to nine unforced errors when she made it on court and the Ukrainian goes on to face 14th seed Daria Kasatkina or Danielle Collins.

.@MariaSharapova has put on an extra layer as the temperature drops in Rome… but it looks like she's got an ???? up her sleeve! #ibi18 pic.twitter.com/dw3U01S5nD

— WTA (@WTA) May 15, 2018

Sharapova endured a tougher test against Australian Barty but prevailed in the third set after two-and-a-half hours.

The Russian saved three break points from 0-40 at 1-1 in the final set and it proved the decisive moment.

“I kind of felt like I played three different matches within the match because of the way the court played, the way that she played, the shadows, the little bit of a breeze that we had out there – a lot going on,” said the 2011, 2012 and 2015 champion.

Fifth seed and French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko saw off China’s Shuai Zhang 6-2 7-5 in round two, while 11th seed Angelique Kerber returned from injury to beat Zarina Diyas 6-2 7-6(6) in the first round.

“I’m actually happy after the last two weeks that I’m back,” Kerber told WTA Insider.

“After Stuttgart it was a really tough time because I had a lot of pain in my leg, and now I can say I was without pain the whole match and I could play my game like I practiced the past few days.”