Two-time champion Amelie Mauresmo withdrew on Sunday from next week's Rome Masters with injury and was replaced as 16th seed by Russian Nadia Petrova, dpa reported.
The Frenchwoman who won the Foro Italico title in 2004 and 2005, was advised by doctors not to play after suffering a rib injury which forced her pullout from last week's Berlin tournament.
The 29-year-old will now have only two weeks to recover before the start of the French Open, where she has been forever jinxed, with a pair of quarter-finals her best showings at home.
Mauresmo underwent a scan last week which showed a small tear in a rib muscle, the result of frequent coughing due to a previous illness.