Kuznetsova, Cibulkova win at Eastbourne; Kvitova pulls out
EASTBOURNE, England (AP) Former Grand Slam finalists Svetlana Kuznetsova and Dominika Cibulkova advanced to the second round of the Eastbourne grass-court tournament on Monday, while top-seeded Petra Kvitova withdrew through illness a week before starting her title defense at Wimbledon.
Kuznetsova, who has won the French Open and U.S. Open, converted all four of her break points in beating Magdalena Rybarikova 7-6 (5), 6-4 to set up a match against Flavia Pennetta.
Cibulkova, a runner-up at the Australian Open last year, beat Harriet Dart 6-1, 6-3 and will next play 2014 Wimbledon semifinalist Lucie Safarova.
Kvitova pulled out before she had played a match at Eastbourne in a disruption to her preparations for Wimbledon. She said she started feeling ill when she arrived in Britain on Thursday and didn't recover.
''I have to still think positively, and I hope I'm going to be ready for Wimbledon,'' the second-ranked Kvitova said. ''I'm playing Tuesday (at Wimbledon next week), so it's still time for it.''
Kvitova hasn't played since losing in the fourth round at the French Open on June 1.
Rain pushed 2014 Wimbledon runner-up Eugenie Bouchard's second-round match against Alison Riske back to Tuesday.
There were wins for unseeded players Polona Hercog of Slovenia, Irina Falconi of the United States, Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic, Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria and home favorite Heather Watson.
