Australian Jarmila Gajdosova has been eliminated in the first round of the Italian Open by South African Chanelle Scheepers on Monday.
Gajdosova battled hard in the second set to take into a tie-breaker, but ultimately she was soundly beaten 6-4 7-6 (7-3).
In other women’s action, Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain defeated Zheng Jie of China 6-2 6-1.
Coming off a win over Rafael Nadal in Madrid last week, Fernando Verdasco eased into the second round when Alexandr Dolgopolov retired with a stomach ache.
After the 16th-ranked Verdasco won the first set 6-0, Dolgopolov called for the trainer then clutched his stomach as he went over to shake Verdasco’s hand and concede.
On a clear but windy day at the Foro Italico, 13th-seeded Gael Monfils also beat Alex Bogomolov Jr. of Russia 6-4 6-1.
This tournament is the last major clay-court warm-up for the French Open, which starts in two weeks.