Kuznetsova, Cibulkova win at Eastbourne; Kvitova pulls out

EASTBOURNE, England (AP) Former grand-slam finalists Svetlana Kuznetsova and Dominika Cibulkova advanced to the second round of the Eastbourne grass-court tournament on Monday, while top-seeded Petra Kvitova withdrew through illness a week before starting her title defense at Wimbledon.

Kuznetsova, who has won the French Open and U.S. Open, converted all four of her break points in beating Magdalena Rybarikova 7-6 (5), 6-4 to set up a match against Flavia Pennetta.

Cibulkova, a runner-up at the Australian Open last year, beat Harriet Dart 6-1, 6-3 and will next play 2014 Wimbledon semifinalist Lucie Safarova.

Kvitova pulled out before she had played a match at Eastbourne in a disruption to her preparations for Wimbledon. She said she started feeling ill when she arrived in Britain on Thursday and never recovered.

Kvitova said ''I have to still think positively, and I hope I'm going to be ready for Wimbledon.''