Birthday boy Benoit Paire was gifted a place in round two of the ATP World Tour's Internazionali d'Italia on Sunday as Bernard Tomic retired after just three games.
World number 22 Tomic made a controversial exit from the Madrid Open earlier this week, holding his racquet with the handle pointing forward and barely moving as opponent Fabio Fognini served an ace to complete a 6-2, 6-4 win.
That behaviour prompted widespread criticism, with world number one Novak Djokovic and Australia's Olympic chef de mission, Kitty Chiller, among those to express disapproval.
On his return to action, Tomic moved 2-1 ahead in the first set against Paire in Rome, only to then call a halt to proceedings having spent just eight minutes on court.
Paire, who turned 27 on Sunday, will therefore face fourth seed Stan Wawrinka in the second round.
David Goffin was made to work hard by Leonardo Mayer, the Belgian eventually prevailing 2-6 7-6 (10-8) 6-3.
After being well beaten in the opening set, Goffin failed to serve out the second from 5-3 up and spurned three set points in a tie-breaker before finally levelling proceedings.
The 12th seed then kicked on to take the final set, breaking Mayer on three occasions.
Kevin Anderson marked his return from injury by beating Feliciano Lopez 6-4 7-6 (7-5).
The giant South African had not played since February, having opted to undergo minor ankle surgery as he recovered from a shoulder problem.
Juan Monaco and Albert Ramos-Vinolas each recorded respective 6-4 6-4 victories over higher-ranked players, Americans Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey, while Viktor Troicki eased past Teymuraz Gabashvili 6-4 6-1.
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