EASTBOURNE, UK — Wimbledon holder Petra Kvitova will begin her title defense in a week without any official grass-court matches following her Monday withdrawal from the Eastbourne International. The Czech who claimed the title at the All England club in 2011 and a year ago was top seed at the final tune-up tournament prior to the start in SW 19.
Second seed Caroline Wozniacki dropped a huge hint only minutes before the pullout, saying that she and Kvitova were unlikely to team up in doubles as planned.
She added that her intended partner had not been feeling 100 percent in recent days.
Kvitova has not played since losing in the Roland Garros fourth round. On Sunday, Americans Sloane Stephens and CoCo Vandeweghe both rallied from a set down Sunday to reach the second round of the grass-court tournament
Stephens overcame Naomi Broady of Britain, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4) in a match lasting almost exactly two hours, while Vandeweghe ousted Johanna Larsson of Sweden, 6-7 (3), 6-1, 6-1. Stephens trailed 3-2 in the second set before winning the next four games to level the match.
In other first-round matches, Caroline Garcia of France defeated Roberta Vinci of Italy 6-2, 6-2, while American Alison Riske cruised past Alize Cornet of France 6-0, 6-3.
Dolgopolov, Baghdatis advance
In Nottingham, Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine defeated Donald Young of the United States in the first round of the grass-court Aegon Open Nottingham Sunday and Marcos Baghdatis set up a second-round match against top-seeded David Ferrer.
Dolgopolov, who beat Rafael Nadal in the first round at the Queen's Club tournament, beat Young 6-4, 6-4 at the City of Nottingham Tennis Centre. Baghdatis led 7-5, 3-0 when Victor Estrella Burgos of the Dominican Republic retired with a neck injury.
Marcel Granollers of Spain also won after his opponent, Vasek Pospisil of Canada, retired at the start of the third set with a back problem. In other matches, Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan defeated Nicolas Almagro of Spain 6-1, 6-4 and Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine beat Steve Johnson of the US 6-4, 6-3. — Agencies
