Jun 17, 2008, 18:23 GMT
Eastbourne, England - Olga Govortsova knocked seventh seed Nicole Vaidisova out in the first round of the Eastbourne Championships on Tuesday as former winner Lindsay Davenport withdrew with a knee injury.
The 36th-ranked Govortsova ambushed the Czech 6-2, 6-4 after Vaidisoava had reached the Birmingham quarter-finals last week.
Vaidisova struck four aces but also dropped serve four times in the battle of 19-year-olds.
Danish teenager Caroline Wozniacki, the youngest woman in the Devonshire Park draw at age 17, set up a second-round showdown with top seed Svetlana Kuznetsova after beating Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova 6-3, 6-2.
Sybille Bammer, another tennis mother like Davenport, stopped Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia 7-6 (11-9), 1-6, 7-5
Mother-of-one Davenport, the 1999 Wimbledon winner and 2001 champion in Eastbourne, will undergo a scan to determine exactly what's wrong with her dodgy knee.
The American, 32, felt the problem during weekend training and could not hide her disappointment at pulling out.
Davenport was to have opened at her first event in two months against France's Virginie Razzano, who beat substitute Kaia Kanepi 6-3, 6-4.
'I'm so bummed that I can't play here, I've been working the hardest since I was pregnant. I'm so disappointed,' she said.
'I came here expecting to play and I was really eager to get back onto court.'
Davenport, who returned to tennis last autumn after nine months away to give birth, has won four titles since her comeback.
The Californian skipped the French Open, last playing in April in the US where she handed a walkover to Maria Sharapova in the semi-finals on American green clay at Amelia Island.
Davenport said she is confident of fronting up on the lawns of the All England club when play at the major begins on Monday.
'It seemed to be tissue damage rather than anything structural. Hopefully three days of inactivity will put it right,' she said.
'Otherwise, I feel great physically. I love Wimbledon and have had good results there. Hopefully my body will hold up and I'll have a chance to go back.'
Britain lost its second and final player as 139th-ranked wild card Melanie South was beaten by Russian Alisa Kleybanova 6-4, 6-4. The 22-year-old made a surprise quarter-final at Birmingham but prior to last week had won only two matches on grass.
View blog reactions
There are currently no comments for this article. Be the first to comment! (no registration required)
Advertising
There are currently no comments for this article. Be the first to comment! (no registration required)