Sharapova, Mladenovic rolled in Rome

Maria Sharapova has been forced to withdraw from the Italian Open during her second round match against Mirjana Lucic-Baroni. The Russian, who earlier learned that she will not be receiving a wildcard into the French Open, withdrew because of a thigh injury with the match poised at 6-4 3-6 1-2.

The result compounds what was an already difficult day for the two-time Roland Garros champion. Sharapova had been widely expected to receive a wildcard into qualifying for the French Open, after saying that she would be willing to play Juniors if it meant that she could compete in Paris.

Today’s second round loss also means that she can no longer qualify directly for Wimbledon main draw. However, her ranking is now high enough to be eligible for a place in Wimbledon qualifying.

In other second round action, Svetlana Kuznetsova downed Katerina Siniakova 6-1 7-6(3), and Johanna Konta earned a rare win on the clay beating Yulia Putintseva 6-3 6-0.

Meanwhile, Madrid Open runner-up Kristina Mladenovic suffered a surprise first round exit to Julia Goerges. The French No.1, who has enjoyed a solid run of form in 2017, was beaten in straight sets by the German 7-6(6) 7-5.

Daria Gavrilova rallied from a set down to beat world No.13 Madison Keys. The Australian, who was forced to qualify for the event after failing to submit her entry form in time, appeared to be in trouble during the opening set. However, the fiery 23 year-old hit back to beat the 2016 finalist 2-6 7-5 7-5 .