Second seed Sara Errani barely raised a sweat as she dismantled Czech qualifier Lucie Hradecka in straight sets at the Mexican Open on Tuesday.
Wednesday sees Maria Sharapova back in action following her sluggish start in the first round. She faces Colombia's Mariana Duque-Marina at 7 p.m. ET Wednesday.
Sharapova beat Shelby Rogers of the United States 6-4, 6-1 on Monday in her first place since the Australian Open, where he was runner-up.
"I've been in many different situations in my career, and when you're down, you have to change a few things and stay positive," Sharapova said on the WTA Tour website.
"You just have to concentrate on one point at a time instead of the bigger result and as the match went on I definitely felt more and more comfortable out there."
Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the United States and Monica Puig of Puerto Rico also play Wednesday in Acapulco.
Eighth-seeded Madison Brengle and American Stephens, seeded seventh, were knocked out in the first round.
Errani won her sixth consecutive match, following last week's victory at the Rio Open. She next faces Puig.
"It was not easy coming from Rio — it was a long time travelling here and the change of surface is never easy," Errani said.
"But I'm really happy how the match went today and how I played."
Puig won 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 against the Czech Tereza Smitkova.
Third seed Carolina Garcia beat Polona Hercog 6-4, 6-1 in a little over an hour to set-up a meeting with Mattek-Sands.
Contributing: Sportal.com.au