Petra Kvitova lost in the first round of the Dubai Championships on Tuesday, falling to Ayumi Morita 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3) only two days after beating Kim Clijsters to win a tournament in France.
The Czech player, who has won three titles in her career, lost for only the second time this season.
“Well, I think everything was bad for me,” said Kvitova, who is ranked 14th in the world. “I was tired and I felt everything. I couldn't serve too much because I'm feeling the muscle in the stomach. Yeah, I was slow and tired, so it was tough to play.”
Pattaya Open champion Daniela Hantuchova also lost in the first round. The Slovak became dizzy for a time, saying she “couldn't keep track of the score'' at one point, before losing to Anna Chakvetadze of Russia 6-1, 6-3.
“Felt like I didn't have much energy on the court,” said Hantuchova, who won her first title in nearly four years in humid Thailand on Sunday. “I was trying and I know the tennis was not very pretty. I was trying my best. ... Physically, it was just impossible today.”
Another surprise loser was former No. 1 Ana Ivanovic, who fell 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-2 to Patty Schnyder of Switzerland. The 14th-seeded Serb was in control after winning the first set and leading 3-1 in the second but collapsed amid a wave of unforced errors and double faults.
Ivanovic was broken early in the decider and again to trail 5-2 after double-faulting. Schnyder closed out her first victory of 2011 when the Serb sent a backhand long.
“It feels great especially where the (Australian Open) didn't go that well,” said Schynder, who lost in the first round in Melbourne. “I found my legs and footwork a bit. I was kind of slow. I was trying to hang in there to take the ball really early and hit some good serves. It's not easy to play rally after rally, which is my game.”
Ivanovic, who was dumped out of the Australian Open in the first round, blamed the latest setback on her ongoing recovery from an abdominal injury which had forced her to retire from a tournament in Sydney last month.
“It's very disappointing,” she said. “I think I had lots of chances in the second set and then the level really dropped ... I felt in the third set particularly, I could not accelerate anymore. Kind of a strength issue, a little bit.”
Sara Errani of Italy, who lost in the Pattaya final, advanced by beating Slovak qualifier Zuzana Kucova 6-1, 6-4. Another Italian, Flavia Pennetta, landed only 43 percent of her first serves but still defeated Australian wild card Jelena Dokic 6-2, 6-2.
Pennetta, who reached the fourth round of the Australian Open and won her first Grand Slam doubles title in Melbourne, took advantage of a string of unforced errors and 11 double faults from Dokic, a quarterfinalist last week in Paris.
“She can play good tennis but she made a lot of mistakes,” Pennetta said. “It's not easy to play the first match in a tournament. And it was really windy outside. The weather, it's really strange here.”
Shahar Peer of Israel, a semifinalist last year, beat Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain 6-4, 6-1.
Peer jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first set but Martinez Sanchez came back to tie it at 4. Peer went up 5-4 and broke Sanchez to take the set.
The Spaniard, weakened by the flu and coughing during the match, couldn't keep up in the second set.
Peer was barred from the 2009 tournament because she's Israeli. This year, she has extra security and her own compound. Still, she said she felt very comfortable in Dubai, where she lost to Venus Williams last year and was seeded ninth this year.
“Obviously, I played good last year,” Peer said. “When you go back to a tournament that you played good, you want to repeat that.”
