Serena Williams eases past Andrea Petkovic to reach Rogers Cup quarter-finals

Three-time Rogers Cup champion Serena Williams has advanced into the quarter-finals of the competition after beating Andrea Petkovic in straight sets this morning.

The world number one, whose last triumph came in 2013, managed a 6-3 6-2 victory in just over an hour to move three wins away from a fourth title in Toronto.

Both women held serve for the first seven games of the opener, but a costly slip-up by Petkovic saw the American break to move 5-3 ahead en route to drawing first blood.

Williams broke her German counterpart in the opening game of the second set, before breaking again in the seventh and the 21-time Grand Slam champion would not be caught from there.

She faces Italian Roberta Vinci in the last eight.