advertisement

Defending champ Bencic beaten by Vesnina

EASTBOURNE, England (AP) - EASTBOURNE, England - Defending champion and third seed Belinda Bencic of Switzerland was beaten 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5) in the second round of the Eastbourne International by 2013 winner Elena Vesnina of Russia on Tuesday.

Top seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland advanced when Mirjana Lucic-Baroni retired with illness as Radwanska led 6-4, 2-1, but second seeded Italian Roberta Vinci was also upset 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 by another Russian former champion, Ekaterina Makarova.

Former top-ranked junior Kristina Mladenovic of France upset fourth-seeded Swiss Timea Bacsinszky 6-1, 7-5, and Russian sixth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova and eighth seed Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain were also beaten.

Fifth-seeded Kvitova, who has reached just one semifinal this year, beat Timea Babos of Hungary 6-4, 7-6 (5).

"I'm kind of feeling that I am playing well, even though I lost some of the matches in a couple of months," she said, including a second-round defeat in England at Birmingham last week.

Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark also reached the third round by crushing seventh-seeded Samantha Stosur of Australia 6-2, 6-1, and Canada's Eugenie Bouchard upset 15th seed Irina-Camelia Begu, winning 6-3, 6-1.

Prior to this week Bouchard had managed just seven wins in the eight tournaments she has played since reaching the Kuala Lumpur final in March. But she has dropped just seven games in her two matches this week.

"I feel like I'm playing well and I'm very focused in the matches, which is the most important," Bouchard said. "I feel like I'm really trying to go after the ball and really trying to dominate the point."

Russia's Elena Vesnina in action against UK's Heather Watson during the Eastbourne International tennis championship in Eastbourne, England, Monday June 20, 2016. Vesnina won the match. (Steve Paston / PA via AP) UNITED KINGDOM OUT - NO SALES - NO ARCHIVES The Associated Press
CAPTION CORRECTS THE MONTH - Czech Republic's Petra Kvitova returns the ball to Hungary's Timea Babos during day two of the 2016 Eastbourne International women's tennis tournament at Devonshire Park, Eastbourne, England, Tuesday, June 21, 2016. (Gareth Fuller/PA via AP) UNITED KINGDOM OUT - NO SALES - NO ARCHIVES The Associated Press
CAPTION CORRECTS THE MONTH - Czech Republic's Petra Kvitova returns the ball to Hungary's Timea Babos during day two of the 2016 Eastbourne International women's tennis tournament at Devonshire Park, Eastbourne, England, Tuesday, June 21, 2016. (Gareth Fuller/PA via AP) UNITED KINGDOM OUT - NO SALES - NO ARCHIVES The Associated Press
Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.