ST. PETERSBURG: Petra Kvitova advanced to the second round of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy on Wednesday, and Caroline Garcia was eliminated.
Kvitova, playing as a wild-card entry, beat Elena Vesnina 6-2, 6-0. The two-time Wimbledon champion will next play Irina-Camelia Begu.
Kvitova landed just 51 percent of her first serves, but was strong on the second serve as Vesnina failed to make an impact.
Garcia, ranked seventh in the world, lost to Russian qualifier Elena Rybakina 4-6, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5).
Rybakina will next face either Julia Goerges or Roberta Vinci in the quarterfinals.
Last year's French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko outplayed Russian veteran Vera Zvonareva to reach the quarterfinals, winning 7-6 (6), 6-3. She'll play the winner of the match between Kvitova and Begu.
In an all-Russian first-round match, sixth-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova lost 6-4, 6-4 to compatriot Ekaterina Makarova. Eighth-seeded Daria Kasatkina reached the quarterfinals with ease, beating Alize Cornet 6-2, 6-1.