Aegon Classic: Ana Ivanovic loses to Michelle Larcher De Brito

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Ana IvanovicImage source, Reuters
Image caption,

Ana Ivanovic served six double faults

Defending champion Ana Ivanovic and fifth seed Eugenie Bouchard have been knocked out of the Aegon Classic.

Serb second seed Ivanovic, 27, lost in the first round to Portuguese qualifier Michelle Larcher De Brito 6-4 3-6 7-6 (8-6) in Birmingham.

Last year's Canadian Wimbledon finalist Bouchard, 21, was beaten by France's Kristina Mladenovic 6-3 4-6 6-0.

British wildcard Naomi Broady, who beat Ajla Tomljanovic on Monday, was knocked out by top seed Simona Halep 6-4 6-2.

Former world number one Victoria Azarenka has pulled out of the tournament through injury.

Belarusian Azarenka, 25, said she did not want to risk playing her second-round match against Kazakhstan's Zarina Diyas with a foot problem, with Wimbledon starting on 29 June.

Build-up to Wimbledon

"It's very disappointing for me to make this decision but I tried to practice and it just doesn't feel 100%," said the two-time Australian Open champion.

Bouchard was knocked out by Mladenovic in the first round of the French Open last month and has now lost nine of her last 10 matches.

Briton Johanna Konta's second-round match against Karolina Pliskova was delayed by rain on Wednesday, with the Czech sixth seed a break up at 4-3 in the deciding set.

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