Madrid, Spain (Sports Network) - The world's top-two women's tennis stars, Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova, were a pair of second-round winners Tuesday at the $5.190 million Madrid Open.

The world No. 1 and Australian Open champion Azarenka coughed up nine double faults but still got past Czech qualifier Andrea Hlavackova 6-3, 7-6 (7-2) in 1 hour, 45 minutes, while the former No. 1 Sharapova cruised past the Czech Republic's Klara Zakopalova 6-4, 6-3 on the unusual blue clay surface at The Magic Box. The Aussie Open and Wimbledon runner-up Sharapova has now won her last six matches overall and is 24-4 for the year.

The Belarusian Azarenka, now 31-2 in 2012, beat Sharapova in January's Aussie Open final, but the Russian avenged the setback with a victory in final in Stuttgart two weeks ago.

Azarenka was last year's Madrid runner-up to Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova.

Up next for Azarenka will be 13th-seeded former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic, who bested former top-10 player Nadia Petrova of Russia 7-5, 6-1.

This year's Madrid Open winner will earn $830,500.

The Sports Network