“I feel like I didn’t play well from the beginning till the end. I started really well, but then I kind of dropped the level,” said Sabalenka.
“Felt like my body was limiting me from performing on the highest level.”
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.
But she failed in her bid for a first tournament victory in the Italian capital, with Romania’s Cirstea facing Linda Noskova in the next round after beating a woman at the top of the world rankings for the first time in her career.
Sabalenka also had to have a time out for a problem with her lower back and left hip, casting doubt on her fitness ahead of Roland Garros later this month.
Jasmine Paolini’s defence of her Italian Open title came to an early end after the home favourite was knocked out by Elise Mertens, 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-3.
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.
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.
French Open champion Coco Gauff is still in the hunt after taking over two hours to beat Argentina’s Solana Sierra 5-7, 6-0, 6-4. (AFP)
