Petra Kvitova, the defending champion, withdrew from the Eastbourne International due to fatigue. Kvitova, ranked 9th in the world, won her 31st WTA singles championship on Sunday in Berlin.
The 2 time Wimbledon champion was set to begin her Eastbourne defence against Jelena Ostapenko, whom she defeated in the final last year. On Sunday, Ostapenko claimed the 2021 championship as well as the Birmingham trophy.
Ostapenko defeated Barbora Strycova, Kvitova’s substitute, 6-4, 6-3, to advance to the round of 16 against Britain’s Harriet Dart.
Kvitova followed the exit of Wimbledon titleholder Elena Rybakina on Monday. Rybakina, the top seed, withdrew due to a viral illness, according to Eastbourne organisers.
The field was led by No. 5-ranked Caroline Garcia, who was joined in the top ten this week by Jessica Pegula, Ons Jabeur, Coco Gauff and Barbora Krejcikova.
Garcia moved to the round of 16 with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over American Madison Brengle.
Fifth-seeded Gauff defeated Bernarda Pera 6-3, 6-2 in an all-American match that lasted 61 minutes. Gauff’s next opponent will be British player Jodie Burrage.
“Bernarda is not an easy player, especially a lefty on grass,” Grauff said. “It was really windy today so I think we were just trying to make one more ball in the court.”