World No. 2 Naomi Osaka crashed out of the Italian Open on Wednesday, losing 7-6(2), 6-2 to American Jessica Pegula.
Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam winner, has often struggled on clay and her defeat in Rome followed a second-round loss at the Madrid Open this month.
Later, Serena Williams, seeded eighth and playing the 1,000th Tour-level match of her glittering career, suffered a shock 7-6(6), 7-5 defeat by Argentina’s Nadia Podoroska. It was the American’s 149th defeat in her 1,000 career WTA matches.
World No.1 Ashleigh Barty advanced to the third round with an easy 6-4, 6-1 win over Kazakh Yaroslava Shvedova.
In the men’s section, third-seeded Daniil Medvedev lost 6-2, 6-4 to fellow Russian Aslan Karatsev.
Beating rain and Fritz
Meanwhile on Tuesday, World No. 1 Novak Djokovic overcame a lengthy rain delay to beat American Taylor Fritz 6-3, 7-6(5) to reach the third round. Title-holder Djokovic waited three hours to finish off the match despite Fritz’s efforts in the second set.
Important results (second round): Men: Alejandro Davidovich Fokina bt Cameron Norrie 6-2, 6-3; Dominic Thiem bt Marton Fucsovics 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-0; Lorenzo Sonego bt Gianluca Mager 6-4, 6-4; Roberto Bautista Agut bt Cristian Garin 7-6(5), 6-3; Andrey Rublev bt Jan-Lennard Struff 6-7(7), 6-1, 6-4; Federico Delbonis bt David Goffin 6-2, 6-1; Aslan Karatsev bt Daniil Medvedev 6-2, 6-4; Alexander Zverev bt Hugo Dellien 6-2, 6-2; Novak Djokovic bt Taylor Fritz 6-3, 7-6(5).
Women: Ashleigh Barty bt Yaroslava Shvedova 6-4, 6-1; Veronika Kudermetova bt Caroline Garcia 6-4, 6-4; Coco Gauff bt Maria Sakkari 6-1, 1-6, 6-1; Aryna Sabalenka bt Sara Sorribes 7-5, 6-1; Garbine Muguruza bt Bernarda Pera 2-6, 6-0, 7-5; Elina Svitolina bt Amanda Anisimova 2-6, 6-3, 6-4; Karolina Pliskova bt Anastasija Sevastova 6-2, 6-3; Vera Zvonareva bt Petra Kvitova 6-4, 3-6, 6-4; Jelena Ostapenko bt Ajla Tomljanovic 6-2, 7-6(3); Nadia Podoroska bt Serena Williams 7-6(6), 7-5; Petra Martic bt Kristina Mladenovic 7-5, 6-3; Ekaterina Alexandrova bt Jennifer Brady, walkover; Jessica Pegula bt Naomi Osaka 7-6(2), 6-2 .
