NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — Defending champion Petra Kvitova held on for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 win Tuesday over Annika Beck in the first round of the New Haven Open.
The third-seeded Kvitova dropped the first set, but earned a key service break in the eighth game of the second. She held on for the win, breaking serve again on the final game of the match.
Beck wasn’t in the tournament until Poland’s Urszula Radwanska was forced to withdraw Monday with what was described as a viral illness.
Kvitova wasn’t the only seeded player to struggle. Second-seeded Angelique Kerber was upset, losing a second-round match 6-2, 6-4 to Russia’s Elena Vesnina.
Kerber was making her first appearance in New Haven after drawing a first-round bye.
