Reigning champion Amelie Mauresmo was an easy winner, while Australian Open titlist Serena Williams and U.S. and French Open runner-up Elena Dementieva bowed out in second-round action Wednesday at the $1.3 million Italian Masters. Heavy Italian crowd favorite Francesca Schiavone stunned the third-seeded Williams 7-6 (7-2), 6-1 in 1 hour, 22 minutes on the red clay at Foro Italico. Schiavone beat Williams for the first time in three meetings. They hadn't met since 2003. A rusty seven-time Grand Slam champion Williams, who received an opening-round bye, was playing her first tennis in a month after nursing an ankle injury and dropped to 2-3 in her last five outings. She hasn't reached a final since titling in Melbourne back in January. Williams captured the Italian Open in 2002. The second-seeded Mauresmo, seeking her fifth trip to the final here in the last six years, ripped through Aussie Samantha Stosur 6-2, 6-0. Mauresmo beat American Jennifer Capriati in last year's Rome final and was the runner-up in 2000, 2001 and 2003. Her opponent on Thursday will be veteran Italian Silvia Farina Elia. Capable Argentine Gisela Dulko toppled the fourth-seeded Dementieva 7-5, 6-4. Dementieva was the only woman to reach two Grand Slam finals last season. Three other seeded Russians avoided upsets on Day 3, as No. 6 Vera Zvonareva zipped past rising Serb Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 6-1, No. 7 Nadia Petrova pasted Italian Mara Santangelo 6-3, 6-1 and No. 9 Elena Bovina handled Italian Roberta Vinci 7-5, 6-2. Eighth-seeded Swiss Patty Schnyder moved on by dismissing German Anna-Lena Groenefeld 6-2, 6-4, while a 13th-seeded Farina Elia defeated France's Stephanie Cohen-Aloro 6-3, 6-3 and 15th-seeded Japanese Ai Sugiyama blasted Venezuelan Maria Vento-Kabchi 6-3, 6-0. Former Rome champion Mary Pierce snuck past Croat Sanda Mamic 6-4, 6-4, while four-time titlist Conchita Martinez came back to beat Israeli Anna Smashnova 3-6, 6-1, 6-1. Pierce won this event in 1997 and was the runner-up in 1999, while Martinez captured the tournament from 1993-96 and lost to Pierce in the '97 final. Pierce's third-round opponent will be top-seeded Russian Maria Sharapova, who could supplant American Lindsay Davenport atop the WTA Tour rankings with a title this week. Other second-round wins came for Russian Evgenia Linetskaya, Serb Ana Ivanovic and Colombian Catalina Castano. The 2005 Rome titlist will collect $189,000.