Defending champion Serena Williams has withdrawn from the Italian Open shortly before she was scheduled to face fellow American Christina McHale in the third round.
In her opener on Tuesday, Williams cruised past the 39th-ranked Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-1, 6-3 in just over an hour. Tournament organisers announced Williams’ decision to withdraw without explanation.
Her decision came soon after Andy Murray also pulled out of the tournament, the Scot citing tiredness after an unprecedented run of success on clay that finally caught up with him.
Murray said: “This morning I was pretty exhausted when I got up and then I came in to practise, did my 40-minute warm-up and felt extremely flat.