England, Jun19: Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova slumped out of the Eastbourne championships on Tuesday, falling to Ekaterina Makarova 7-5, 6-4 in the first round of the grass court tournament.
The second-seeded Kvitova put on an erratic performance during her first match on grass since lifting the trophy at Wimbledon last year.
The Czech player broke twice in the opening set, only for her Russian opponent to break back each time. Makarova then broke third time to take the set with a perfect winner down the line to take the set.
The Russian saved two break points at the start of the second to pull ahead 4-2. Kvitova broke at love, when Makarova served for the match at 5-3, but she responded by taking Kvitova's serve again, forcing an error from a powerful service return.
Kvitova reached the semifinals at the French Open last month.
