In what is becoming a daily routine, another top player withdrew from the Mercury Insurance Open on Wednesday afternoon.
Eleventh-seeded Maria Kirilenko said she would exit due to a left hip injury. No. 2 Kim Clijsters, Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, top-ranked American Bethanie Mattek-Sands and last year’s champion, Svetlana Kuznetsova, all withdrew before the tournament began.
Kirilenko had beaten Canadian Rebecca Marino in straight sets in the first round, but her departure allows Austrian Tamira Paszek to advance to the third round in a walkover. That’s good news for American Sloane Stephens, who won Wednesday morning and can advance to her first tour quarterfinal if she can defeat Paszek. Kirilenko is ranked 26th in the world, Paszek 36th.
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-- Matt Stevens
Photo: Maria Kirilenko. Credit: Jeff Gross / Getty Images
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