Doha - Serbia's Ana Ivanovic advanced to the second round of the Qatar Open on Monday when her opponent Carla Suarez Navarro withdrew midway through their match because of a back injury.
Ivanovic, the 2008 French Open champion, was leading 6-1, 4-1 when Suarez Navarro left the court.
Trailing 1-2 in the second set, Suarez Navarro had already sought court-side treatment from the WTA Tour medical team. The 23-year-old Spaniard then briefly left the court before resuming the set.
Ivanovic said after the match "it is very unfortunate for her."
Results from the first day of the Qatar Open WTA event on Monday (x denotes seeding):
First round:
Varvara Lepchenko (USA) bt Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN) 6-3, 6-3
Mona Barthel (GER) bt Caroline Garcia (FRA) 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/4)
Christina McHale (USA) bt Chanelle Scheepers (RSA) 6-4, 6-3
Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS x 14) bt Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (ESP) 7-5, 6-3
Monica Niculescu (ROM) bt Elena Vesnina (RUS) 6-1, 6-0
Ksenia Pervak (RUS) bt Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS x10) 1-6, 6-2, 6-3
Anne Keothavong (GBR) bt Tamira Paszek (AUT) 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/5)
Shuai Peng (CHN x12) bt Fatma Al Nabhani (OMA) 6-0, 7-5
Shahar Peer (ISR) bt Nadia Lalami (MOR) 6-0, 6-0
Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) bt Vera Dushevina (RUS) 7-5, 6-2
Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL) bt Polona Hercog (SLO) 6-0, 6-4
Ana Ivanovic (SRB x13) bt Carla Suarez (ESP) 6-1, 4-1 retired