London: China's Li Na advanced to the quarter-finals of the Eastbourne International tennis tournament as her French opponent Marion Bartoli pulled out due to a viral infection. Li, the second seed, was told about the development by her coach barely 10 minutes before the match started on Wednesday, reports Xinhua.
Bartoli, ranked 15th in the world and the 2011 champion, said in a statement: "I'm really disappointed to have to withdraw, since it's so nice here and I've always done well at this tournament."
"I have a virus and a fever and am really feeling terrible. I started feeling this way Monday but it has gotten worse. I'm hoping to be back on the court after a few days of rest to get ready for Wimbledon."
Elsewhere, Czech Lucie Safarova beat Australian Samantha Stosur 7-6 (5), 6-3 while American qualifier Jamie Hampton, who upset top seed Agnieszka Radwanska in the first round, defeated Hsieh Su Wei of Chinese Taiepei 6-4, 7-6 (2).
In the men's matches, top-seeded Milos Raonic of Canada was shocked 6-2, 7-6 (7) by Croatia's Ivan Dodig. Third-seeded German Philipp Kohlschreiber was also upset, losing 7-5, 6-3 to Czech veteran Radek Stepanek, and fourth-seeded Juan Monaco of Argentina fell to Spain's Feliciano Lopez 6-4, 6-4.
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