Sharapova advances to third round of Italian Open
World number three Maria Sharapova progressed to the third round of the Italian Open on Tuesday as her Australian opponent Jarmila Gajdosova retired midway in the second set.
Sharapova produced a dominant performance overall to lead 6-2, 3-1 before Gajdosova called it a day with an apparent injury, Sport24 reported.
Sharapova, a two-time champion in Rome, is coming off a defeat to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the semifinal round of the Madrid Open.
The Italian Open is the last big warm-up tournament for the second Grand Slam of the year, French Open, which starts in less than two weeks.