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Trio pull out of Dubai event

The Dubai Duty Free Championships suffered a triple blow on Monday when Petra Kvitova, Li Na and Vera Zvonareva all withdrew from the event.

Wimbledon champion Kvitova, who also missed last week’s Qatar Open, pulled out of the tournament with a virus.

“I am really sorry to have gotten sick prior to the start of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships,” said Kvitova.

“I love playing in Dubai and am so disappointed to not be able to get on the plane and go and play for the fans and those amazing crowds.”

World No 9 and former French Open champion Li cited a back injury as the reason for her decision to withdraw while Vera Zvonareva is out with a hip injury.

Russian Zvonareva limped out of the Qatar Open midway through her second-round match against Romania’s Monica Niculescu.

World No 1 Victoria Azarenka, fresh from winning the title in Doha, will headline the event while defending champion Caroline Wozniacki and US Open winner Sam Stosur are headlining the field.

In Monday’s first-round action, eighth seed Jelena Jankovic booked her place in the second round with a comfortable 6-2 6-2 victory over Petra Cetkovska.

The former world No 1 required just one hour and 13 minutes to claim victory and set up a win against Flavia Pennetta after the Italian beat Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-3 6-3.

Svetalana Kuznetsova, a two-time grand slam winner, made a first-round exit after going down 2-6 7-6 (2) 6-4 to Germanys’ Julia Goerges.

Russia’s Maria Kirilenko and Israel’s Shahar Peer also made it into the second round. Kirilenko beat Monica Niculescu 6-3 6-0 while wildcard Peer saw off Fatma Al Nabhani of Oman 6-3 6-1.