Kvitova forced out of St. Petersburg with illness

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia - No.3 seed and former champion Petra Kvitova was forced to withdraw from the St. Petersburg Ladies' Trophy prior to her quarterfinal match with illness.

The 2018 winner was slated to face Russian No.1 Ekaterina Alexandrova in the last quarterfinal on Friday's schedule.

"I'm really sorry to withdraw from the St. Petersburg Ladies' Trophy due to illness," Kvitova said in a statement.

"I wasn't feeling well during my match yesterday and hoped I would feel better today, but unfortunately, that's not the case. I'm sorry not to play in front of the fans here in this beautiful city. I wish the tournament a great finish and hope to be back again next year."

Thanks to the walkover, Alexandrova, the Shenzhen Open champion, advances to her second semifinal of the season and will face either No.2 seed Kiki Bertens or qualifier Anastasia Potapova.