Top seed Elina Svitolina was among the big names defeated on day three of the WTA Dubai Tennis Championships ©Getty Images

Top seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine was among the seeded players to crash out of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) 1000 Dubai Tennis Championships, as the second round got underway today at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium.

Things looked to be going smoothly for Svitolina when she won the first set against her opponent Svetlana Kuznetsova.

However, the experienced Russian turned the contest on its head and won 2-6 6-3 6-1 in just under two hours.

Fourth seed Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic was another high-profile casualty in the United Arab Emirates as she retired hurt having lost the first set to Jil Teichmann of Switzerland.

Despite being 4-3 up in the second set, Kvitova withdrew citing a right adductor injury.

Fourth seed Petra Kvitova withdrew from her second round match in Dubai today citing a right adductor injury ©Getty Images
Fourth seed Petra Kvitova withdrew from her second round match in Dubai today citing a right adductor injury ©Getty Images

Fifth seed Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands was also on the end of an upset as she lost 6-1 6-4 to a qualifier from the Czech Republic Tereza Martincova.

The highest ranked player remaining in the draw is now second seed Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic who battled to a 6-3 6-7 6-2 win against Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova.

Another battling victory came for sixth seed Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, who defeated Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova 6-4 5-7 6-4 in a contest that lasted more than two and a half hours.

It was a smoother day for other top ten seeds, with third seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus beating France’s Alice Cornet 6-2 6-4 and eighth seed Iga Swiatek of Poland victorious 6-2 6-4 against Misaki Doi of Japan.

Elsewhere, ninth seed Garbine Muguruza of Japan won 6-4 6-2 against America’s Amanda Anisimova and tenth seed Elise Mertens of Belgium beat American Shelby Rogers 6-3 6-3.