Women’s top seed Victoria Azarenka on Thursday withdrew from the Rome Masters with a shoulder injury, handing a walkover victory to her scheduled third-round opponent Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia.
World No.1 Azarenka was the last on court on Wednesday when she saw off the talented Israeli Shahar Peer with a 6-1 6-2 victory in the second round.
Her withdrawal means 14th-seeded Cibulkova will play in the last eight on Friday against the winner from eighth seed Li Na of China and Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa.