Maria Sharapova survived a brief scare in Rome ©Getty Images

Five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova booked her place in the last 32 at the Italian Open in Rome with victory over Australia's Ashleigh Barty at the Foro Italico.

The Russian faced a tough match against her 16th seeded opponent and narrowly took the first set 7-5.

Barty was not disheartened by her narrow loss of the set and fought back to tie the match with a convincing 6-3 win in the second.

She then pushed 31-year-old Sharapova in the first couple of games in the deciding set and, with the scores at 1-1, it looked like it was going to be a close finish.

Sharapova, however, swung the momentum back in her favour and eventually won the set by a comfortable 6-2 scoreline, booking her place in the next round.

Sharapova's compatriot and 14th seed Daria Kasatkina experienced similar success on court as she put in a convincing performance to beat Australia's Ajla Tomljanović.

The 21-year-old won the first set without dropping a game before winning the second 6-4 to secure her spot in the next round.

Fellow Russian Elena Vesnina, a four-time Grand Slam champion in doubles, struggled to break down Germany's Laura Siegemund in the first set of their match in Rome, but she eventually won it 7-6.

She then took this momentum into the second set to win it 6-2, booking her place in the round of 32.

Fernando Verdasco suffered a surprising loss in Rome ©Getty Images
Fernando Verdasco suffered a surprising loss in Rome ©Getty Images

Over in the men's competition, Spain's Fernando Verdasco, a three-time Davis Cup champion, suffered a shock defeat to unseeded Bosnian player Damir Džumhur.

Džumhur, who competed at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, secured the win in comfortable fashion by a 6-3, 6-1 scoreline.

Fifteenth seed Tomas Berdych, the Czech runner-up at Wimbledon in 2015, also suffered a shock loss on the clay.

It had looked like he was set to win his match against Canada’s Denis Shapovalov, who became the youngest ever player to reach the final of the Madrid Open last week, with ease when he won the first set 6-1.

Shapovalov, however, recovered brilliantly to win the next two sets 6-3, 7-5.

The competition continues tomorrow.

It is a key warm-up to the French Open, the clay court Grand Slam which begins on May 27.

It is an Association of Tennis Professionals Masters 1000 tournament and a Premier 5 event on the Women's Tennis Association tour.