Top seed Simona Halep claimed the Italian Open in Rome on Monday after second seed Karolina Pliskova retired from the final with injury when she was down 6-0 2-1.
Halep raced into a 5-0 lead in the opening set, breaking the defending champion three times and also saved three break points at 0-40 down in the fourth game.
The Romanian, who even shook off a hard fall in the second game, was at her aggressive and disciplined best while Pliskova looked sluggish with her on-court movement, failing to hit a single winner as she was bagelled in 20 minutes.
