Serena Williams was forced to withdraw from the Italian Open due to an elbow injury.
Williams, who has won the tournament for the last two years, decided that pain in her right elbow was too much of a discomfort to continue through the tournament.
"I've been dealing with it since last week in Madrid," Williams, who was due to play Christina McHale, told a news conference. It was a difficult decision but I should be ready for Paris."
Elsewhere, Maria Sharapova came back from a 3-1 first-set deficit to beat Bojana Jovanovski 6-3 6-3.
The Russian, a twice winner in Rome in 2011 and 2012, has taken up the favourite's mantle after Serena Williams withdrew due to a right elbow injury.
Fourth seed Petra Kvitova proved too powerful for former world number one Jelena Jankovic, hitting 23 winners, with only 19 unforced errors.
Second seed Simona Halep easily downed Venus Williams 6-2 6-1 in just over an hour while Eugenie Bouchard double faulted on match point, before losing a three-hour battle to Carla Suarez Navarro 6-7(2) 7-5 7-6(7).
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