Italian Open | Disastrous day for higher seeds

Osaka, Serena, and Medvedev bundled out; Barty and Djokovic advance

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.