Wuhan, China (SportsNetwork.com) - Venus Williams was a first-round loser Sunday in the inaugural Wuhan Tennis Open, while Victoria Azarenka withdrew from the event because of a foot injury that will also end her season.
Azarenka, a wild card entry into this week's tournament, made the announcement Sunday on her Facebook page, citing a foot injury.
"Unfortunately I will not be competing in any tournaments for the remainder of the season," she wrote. "It has been a very tough year for me. I have been trying my best to improve day in and day out by pushing and pushing ... but that does not appear to be the best approach for me right now. I will use this time to work on making a full recovery and take care of my body to compete at my best next season."
Azarenka did not win a tournament this year, reaching only one final -- a loss to Serena Williams in the season-opener at Brisbane. The two-time Australian Open champ missed seven of her first 16 scheduled events because of various injuries and will be replaced in this week's draw by lucky loser Annika Beck of Germany.
The eight top seeds in Wuhan, including world No. 1 Serena Williams, have first-round byes and Sunday's action featured Caroline Garcia's upset of Venus Williams.
Garcia and Venus battled for more than 2 1/2 hours before the Frenchwoman finally emerged with a 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (8-6) triumph. She'll next face fifth- seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland.
Heat was a factor on Sunday in central China, as 16-year-old wild card Xu Shilin was forced to retire in the third set against American Alison Riske after nearly three hours on the court. The match was even after both players captured 6-4 wins in the first two sets and were tied at 6-6 in the third when Shilin was forced to call it quits because of the heat.
Seeded winners Sunday included Russia's Ekaterina Makarova and Germany's Andrea Petkovic. The 13th-seeded Makarova rolled to a 6-2, 6-2 win over Serbia's Bojana Jovanovski, while the 16th-seeded Petkovic rallied for a 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 victory over Croatian qualifier Donna Vekic.
A pair of former Grand Slam champions were also in action and came away with different results. Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova thumped Japan's Kurumi Nara, 6-3, 6-2, while Italy's Francesca Schiavone, who first had to make it through qualifying, lost to Belgian wild card Kirsten Flipkens in three sets.
Other winners Sunday were Czech veteran Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, Elina Svitolina of the Ukraine and qualifiers Karin Knapp of Italy and Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan. Knapp won the Tashkent Open last Sunday, but was a first-round loser this week in Guangzhou.
With Azarenka's withdrawal, 19 of the top 20 players are entered this week.
Wuhan is the capital of Hubei province and the most populous city in central China. It's also the hometown of two-time Grand Slam champion Li Na, who retired from the WTA last Friday.
