Cibulkova retires, Ivanovic through in Qatar


(MENAFN- Kora) Number nine seed Ivanovic saw opponent Daniela Hantuchova withdraw after appearing to struggle with a leg injury, and illness led to 10th seed Cibulkova's first-set withdrawal against Russian wildcard Alisa Kleybanova



Ivanovic was leading 7-5 1-0 when Hantuchova called time on her challenge at the WTA Premier event in Doha, while Cibulkova was locked at 5-5 in the first set when her match came to a premature end



Slovakian Cibulkova joins fellow seeds Roberta Vinci and Sloane Stephens, who both lost on Monday, in suffering a first-round exit, with Kirsten Flipkens also going the same way



Eugenie Bouchard, seeded 15th, was beaten 7-5 6-1 by American Bethanie Mattek-Sands



Bouchard served for the first set at 5-4 and raced into a 40-15 lead, but was then pegged back in spectacular fashion



The Canadian failed to mount a comeback in the second set and slumped to a miserable opening-match loss



There was better news for 12th seed Samantha Stosur, though, as she claimed a straightforward 6-4 6-2 success over Marina Erakovic



Czech Lucie Safarova earned a surprise 5-7 6-4 6-4 triumph against 16th-seeded Belgian Flipkens, who faced 12 break points in total



Sorana Cirstea and Mirjana Lucic-Baroni recovered from first-set losses to book second-round berths



Romanian Cirstea beat Russia's Alla Kudryavtseva 2-6 6-1 7-5, while Yvonne Meusburger fell to a 4-6 6-2 6-3 loss against qualifier Lucic-Baroni



Yanina Wickmayer set up a clash against eighth seed Caroline Wozniacki as she overcame Ana Petkovic 6-4 6-4



Magdalena Rybarikova was taken the distance by Francesca Schiavone but triumphed 7-5 4-6 7-6 (7-3) and will now meet top seed and Australian Open champion Li Na, who received a bye to the second round



Elsewhere in the draw, there were straight-sets victories for Kaia Kanepi, Stefanie Voegele, Jana Cepelova, Karin Knapp, Monica Niculescu, Klara Zakopalova and Karolina Pliskova


Kora

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