Voegele retires, Robson advances to 2nd round in Birmingham

Stephanie Voegele retired today during her first round in Birmingham, in a match against qualifier Laura Robson. Voegele retired with a lower back injury. Also retiring from lower back problem was Regina Kulikova.

12th seed Elena Baltacha will play her first round match against qualifier Kaia Kanepi tomorrow, and Anne Keothavong will play Pauline Parmentier. The other British players--wild card Naomi Broady, wild card Melanie South, Katie Obrien, and wild card Heather Watson--all lost today.

Also going out today was qualifier Michaella Krajicek, defeated by Anastasia Rodionova.

Czink and Rybarikova out of Estoril Open in 1st round

5th seed Melinda Czink and 6th seed Magdalena Rybarikova were both upset today at the Estoril Open. Stephanie Voegele defeated Czink 6-4, 6-3, and Jarmila Groth defeated Rybarikova, also 6-4, 6-3.

Also leaving in the first round was Alize Cornet, who lost to Michelle Larcher De Brito in a match that lasted almost 2 hours and 47 minutes. De Brito emerged the victor, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. Cornet hit nine aces, but had a lot of trouble with her second serve. Larcher De Brito double-faulted nine times, which is characteristic of her. This was probably a frustrating event to watch. Cornet once had such promise, and Larcher De Brito was considered a star on the rise. To her credit, Larcher De Brito is a very good ball-striker who finds a lot of angles, but the double faults and the sometimes wild hitting get her into trouble. She's still quite young, though, and has time to clean up those problems.