Kvitova pulls out of Dubai due to illness

World number three Petra Kvitova has pulled out of the Dubai WTA tournament which starts on Monday because of illness, her agent announced here on Monday. "She had a high fever at the weekend, she ended up at an emergency department, and she's on antibiotics," Karel Tejkal, spokesman for the Ceska sportovni agency, told the Czech news agency CTK. This is the second event in a row that the 21-year-old will miss after the reigning Wimbledon champion withdrew from last week's Qatar Classic in Doha because of an achilles tendon injury. A hectic January saw Kvitova win the Hopman Cup in Perth with compatriot Tomas Berdych, make the semi-finals in Sydney and the Australian Open before helping the Czech Republic into the semi-finals of the Fed Cup World Group.