Sabalenka was visibly frustrated with her performance on centre court, muttering to herself with her shoulders slumped during an uncharacteristically sloppy display.<\/p>\n
The 28-year-old had not been knocked out of a tournament in the round of 32 since the Qatar Open in February last year, and she looked set for a quick and clean victory after racing to the first set.<\/p>\n
But she failed in her bid for a first tournament victory in the Italian capital, with Cirstea facing Linda Noskova<\/a> in the next round after beating a woman at the top of the world rankings for the first time in her career.<\/p>\n Sabalenka also had to have a time out for what appeared to be a problem with her left hip, casting doubt on her fitness ahead of Roland Garros later this month.<\/p>\n Gauff through, Paolini out<\/p>\n French Open champion Coco Gauff<\/a> is still in the hunt after taking over two hours to beat Argentina’s Solana Sierra<\/a>\u00a05-7, 6-0, 6-4<\/a>.<\/p>\n Gauff has struggled on clay this season, with a last-16 exit in the Madrid Open coming after a disappointing run to the quarter-finals in Stuttgart.<\/p>\n Jasmine Paolini<\/a>‘s defence of her Italian Open title came to an early end after the home favourite was knocked out by Elise Mertens<\/a>,<\/p>\n Local favourite Paolini lost 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-3<\/a> to Mertens following an error-strewn performance.<\/p>\n The 30-year-old is set to drop out of the top 10 of the women’s world rankings after failing to reach the fourth round of a fourth consecutive tournament.<\/p>\n Her fate turned on her failure to capitalise on three match points against the serve at 6-5 in the second set, after which she lost the first two points of the tie-break and never recovered.<\/p>\n “I didn’t make the most of my chances. I needed to keep a clearer head, keep my cool better in those moments,” Paolini told reporters.<\/p>\n “I’m very disappointed to lose, but there were moments in which I felt good on the court, and I was competitive and positive.”<\/p>\n China’s Zheng Qinwen<\/a> is also out on the women’s side after losing to Jelena Ostapenko<\/a>, who won their clash 4-6, 6-4, 6-4<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Key](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/425d9c7f-e112-4a29-8065-d182605587c5.jpg\" "\\"Key")
Key match statsFlashscore<\/p>\n