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.
