WIMBLEDON, England -- French Open champion Serena Williams, seeded second behind big sister Venus, played below her best but still earned a simple 6-3, 6-3 second-round victory over Italy's Francesca Schiavone at Wimbledon on Wednesday.

Australian Open champion and No. 3 seed Jennifer Capriati recorded a brisk 6-2, 6-1 win against Spain's Marta Marrero.

American Chanda Rubin swept past 14th seed Iroda Tulyaganova, while Mary Pierce took down No. 8 seed Sandrine Testud to reach the third round.

Uzbekistan's Tulyaganova failed to make any impact on Rubin's serve and was clearly out of her depth on a sun-baked Court 2 as Rubin won 6-3, 6-1.

Rubin, who has been plagued by injuries throughout her career and underwent knee surgery earlier this year, clearly felt at home on grass as she continued in the same vein that landed her the Eastbourne title last weekend.

Tulyaganova, 20, rarely ventured beyond the baseline and was time and again punished by the attacking Rubin who controlled play from the net.

Rubin, who has now equaled her best performance at the All England Club, will now face the winner of the all-Russian clash between Elena Bovina and 21st seed Tatiana Panova.

Pierce, a two-time former Grand Slam winner, confirmed her return to form with a businesslike dismissal of Testud in an all-French second round match.

Pierce, whose current ranking of 74th in the world tells the tale of her struggle with injury over the past year, betrayed no sentiment in her 6-3, 6-4 victory over her 30-year-old friend and compatriot.

With Pierce out of the picture, Testud has battled it out with Amelie Mauresmo for the No. 1 spot in French women's tennis.

Mauresmo, seeded ninth here, also advanced by beating Italian Rita Grande 6-4, 6-2.

Pierce, a quarterfinalist at this year's French Open, showed no sign of discomfort from her back and ankle injuries mixing mixed delightful drop shots with some devastating hitting from the back of the court. She moved easily, playing with trademark elegance, to set up a third round meeting with Laura Granville of the United States, who is making her debut at Wimbledon.