By Chris Oddo | Wednesday May 11, 2016

Victoria Azarenka suffered her second loss of 2016 on Wednesday in Rome, falling 6-3, 6-2 to Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu in second round action.

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It was Begu’s fourth Top-10 victory, and second in two weeks.

Azarenka, who was forced out of action in Madrid with a back injury, broke in the opening game of the match but would drop the next four in succession to fall behind. Azarenka double-faulted on break point in each of her first two service games and struggled to put away winners and produce velocity on serve against Begu on the slow clay.

Begu hit double the winners of Azarenka in the first set, and the Romanian finished with 27 on the day against just 15 unforced errors (Azarenka had 15 winners against 22 unforced).

Azarenka stayed within a break in the opener, but Begu held at 15 to close out the first set in the ninth game.

Begu would break in the opening game of the second set, and she saved the only break point she faced in the fourth game to hold for 3-1.

That would prove to be Azarenka’s last break point of the day.

Though she did not seek the attention of a trainer for her back,The Belarussian's game lacked its usual orneriness and physicality.

Begu broke for 4-1 in the second set as an Azarenka forehand drifted long and the Romanian held serve in the final two games to claim her first victory in six tries against Azarenka.

The World No. 35 will face Russia’s Daria Kasatkina in the third round. Kasatkina raced past Colombia’s Mariano Duque-Marina, 6-2, 6-2.

In other early action at Rome, third-seeded Garbine Muguruza pummeled Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova, 6-1, 6-0, losing only 19 of 72 points in the lopsided affair. Barbora Strycova (d. Heather Watson) and Jelena Ostapenko (d. Monica Puig) were also winners early on Wednesday at the Foro Italico.