Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova has lost her return match from a two-month break against unseeded American Madison Brengle in the second round of the WTA event in Stuttgart.
Coming off a first-round bye, the fourth-seeded Kvitova saved three match points at 5-4 to force a tiebreaker, but started the decider with a double fault and never recovered on Thursday as the 43rd-ranked Brengle won 6-3 7-6 (7-2).
Kvitova took a break two months ago, citing exhaustion. The Czech started training again three weeks ago and played (and won) two Fed Cup matches last weekend against France before her WTA return and season debut on clay.
"I knew it would be tough on clay, even without the break. She didn't miss much," Kvitova said. "I missed a few winners early on and was a little tired from the Fed Cup."
Brengle, who reached the Australian Open last 16 in January, said: "I tried to control on serve and it worked well today. I am really happy."
Other second-round matches on Thursday include top seeded three-time reigning champion Maria Sharapova against local hope Angelique Kerber.
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