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Moscow - The French tennis player Marion Bartoli, third seed at the 1.5-million-dollar joint ATP/WTA Kremlin Cup tournament, on Friday withdrew from the event citing a viral infection.
The 27-year-old, who needed to win the Kremlin Cup title to take the final eighth spot in the year-ending WTA finale in Istanbul, made a winning start on Thursday in beating Ksenia Pervak of Russia 6-1, 6-1.
But on Friday Bartoli announced she would not show for her quarter-final match against another local crowd favourite Elena Vesnina.
"I think, just my whole body needed a break," Bartoli said. "I really was trying till the end but yesterday during my match I already felt not very good.
"I still have a bit of energy left, so it was enough (to play), but early this morning I had so much pain in my whole body, on my neck," she said.
"I couldn't even warm up. So, I knew it would be extremely difficult. You know, it's been a very very long season and I really tried it toward the end but that was it for me."
Bartoli's withdrawal opened the way for Pole Agnieszka Radwanska to compete in Istanbul next week.
