Petra Kvitova, twice a Wimbledon champion, showed signs of kick-starting her year on the surface she likes most by making a timely dash into the second round of the Aegon Classic.
Kvitova, who has been troubled by illness, personal setbacks and a 10-month title drought, beat both her long-time friend Lucie Safarova and frequent downpours to advance by 6-3, 6-3 in the Wimbledon warm-up event.
The forceful left-hander timed the ball well on a slick surface that gave several players problems in adapting against an opponent who finished last year in the top 10 for the first time.
Photo: Reuters
The success raised the fifth-seeded Czech’s hopes that her game might develop sufficiently to challenge for a third Wimbledon title, while evading schedule congestion.
“I love playing on grass, especially at Wimbledon, and have great memories,” Kvitova said. “It’s kind of my style of the game playing on this.”
“Normally I have some problems with movement starting on grass, but I felt good with that as well today,” she said.
Only half an hour later, Angelique Kerber, the Australian Open champion and the titleholder, contested only seven games with Peng Shuai of China before rain brought a three-and-a-half hour interruption.
Eventually Kerber was sufficiently consistent to complete a 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 success without looking at her best against a hard-to-read opponent who hit with both hands on each side.
Another seed, Karolina Pliskova, ranked eighth, lost 6-4, 7-6 (9/7) to Barbora Strycova in a similarly rain-interrupted contest. The result was not entirely surprising, with Pliskova seeming jaded after five matches last week while winning the Nottingham title and Strycova being a former finalist in Birmingham.
Less lucky were Agnieszka Radwanska, the top seed, who played only eight games with Coco Vanderwegh, Belinda Bencic, the fourth seed, Carla Suarez Navarro, the fifth seed, and Caroline Wozniacki, the former world No. 1, all of whom failed to get on court.
In the doubles, the Taiwanese pairing of sisters Chan Hao-ching and Chan Yung-jan were to play Kateryna Bondarenko and Olga Savchuk last night, while Taiwan’s Chuang Chia-jung and partner Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova faced Belinda Bencic and Andrea Petkovic.
Additional reporting by staff writer
MALLORCA OPEN
AP, MALLORCA, Spain
Garbine Muguruza lost her first match since winning the French Open, falling to Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium 6-3, 6-4 in the first round of the Mallorca Open on Tuesday.
The second-ranked Muguruza had a 2-1 record against Flipkens, but the Belgian won their only previous match on grass three years ago en route to the Den Bosch final.
Muguruza had two break points for 4-3 in the first set, but Flipkens held and broke Muguruza’s serve in the next game.
She won the set when Muguruza hit a backhand into the net.
In the second, Flipkens made the decisive break at 3-3.
Muguruza was the highest-ranked opponent she has beaten.
Two other seeded players also lost: No. 4 Kristina Mladenovic of France to former Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki 6-4, 6-4, and No. 5 Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan to Sorana Cirstea of Romania 6-3, 6-2. Cirstea saved all four break points she faced.
Second-seeded Jelena Jankovic improved her win-loss record to only 8-13 this year after beating Ana Konjuh of Croatia 7-5, 6-3.
Another player in need of a good run was former Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard of Canada. She started the year with finals in Hobart and Kuala Lumpur, but has won only half of her matches since February. She defeated Danka Kovinic of Montenegro 6-3, 7-5.
Third-seeded Ana Ivanovic struggled to get past Pauline Parmentier 6-4, 6-4. Ivanovic saved 10 of 13 break points and converted all five against the Frenchwoman.
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