LONDON - China's Li Na advanced to the quarter-finals of the Eastbourne International tennis tournament on Wednesday as her French opponent Marion Bartoli pulled out due to a viral infection.
Li, the second seed, was told by her coach 10 minutes before the match kicked off.
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 on 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.
Second-seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon defeated Britain's Kyle Edmund 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3), Andreas Seppi of Italy beat American qualifier Ryan Harrison 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, and Italian Fabio Fognini beat Slovak Martin Klizan 6-7 (6), 6-2, 6-2.