Johanna Konta through to Italian Open second round after straight sets win

Konta claimed a 6-4 6-3 victory over 17th seed Magdalena Rybarikova in one hour and 48 minutes

Konta dispatched the 17th seed to move into the second round (Getty)

Johanna Konta is safely through to the second round of the Italian Open after beating Magdalena Rybarikova in straight sets.

A week on from knocking Rybarikova out at the same stage of the Madrid Open, Konta claimed a 6-4 6-3 victory over the 17th seed in one hour and 48 minutes.

Konta had been due to play Petra Kvitova in Rome only for the Czech to pull out of the tournament after winning back-to-back titles in Prague and Madrid.

The unseeded British number one will play Hsieh Su-wei or Aryna Sabalenka in the next round.

Konta is safely through to the second round (Getty)

Konta, who has not reached the quarter-finals of a tournament since early January in Brisbane, displayed impressive resilience in the first set to secure back-to-back breaks after losing her serve in the seventh game.

The world number 22 fell a break down again in the second set but dug deep to win the big points as she reeled off four straight games for a morale-boosting victory.

Meanwhile Kyle Edmund survived a minor scare to beat Tunisia’s Malek Jaziri 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 in the opening round of the men’s Italian Open.