Serena Williams moves on to 3rd round of WTA Sony Open

It may have taken her a tiebreaker for the first set, but home favorite Serena Williams has reached the third round of the WTA Sony Open. Defeating Yaroslava Shvedova 7-6 (9-7) in the first set, Williams easily took the second set 6-2.

Williams survived the first set after 69 minutes when Shvedova hit a double fault Thursday, reported the Associated Press.

"It was an incredibly tough first set. I just needed to relax and yet keep up the intensity,” Williams said.

Williams later began to articulate her shots and focused on playing her power in the second set to win much more comfortably.

"She was up a break (in the first set) and I started just really trying to fight to make the shots. And then when she was serving for the first set I really just tried to be more Serena like," said Williams, according to SkySports.

Also moving on are Maria Sharapova, who defeated Kurumi Nara, Angelique Kerber, Petra Kvitova, Sara Errani, Ana Ivanovic, and Sabine Lisicki, all seeded in the top 20.