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Hantuchova halts Venus return in Eastbourne; Stosur topples Zvonareva

Daniela Hantuchova registered her first win over Venus Williams in 11 meetings at Eastbourne.
Daniela Hantuchova registered her first win over Venus Williams in 11 meetings at Eastbourne.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Daniela Hantuchova knocks Venus Williams out of Eastbourne 6-2 5-7 6-2
  • It is the first time Hantuchova has beaten Williams in 11 matches
  • Slovak will now face fifth seed Petra Kvitova after she beat Agnieszka Radwanska
  • Mario Bartoli will face Australian Sam Stosur in other semifinal

(CNN) -- A day after her sister Serena's comeback was ended in Eastbourne, Venus Williams suffered a similar fate losing in the quarterfinals to Daniela Hantuchova.

The Slovak battled hard in blustery conditions on the south coast of England as she recorded a 6-2 5-7 6-2 win -- her first over Venus in 11 meetings.

Williams had been out of action for five months with an abdominal injury before returning for the warm-up tournament ahead of Wimbledon and showed flashes of her old self in the second set.

Hantuchova told the WTA's official web site: "I was not thinking about our other matches at all. I was just focusing on my game today.

"I had a good win yesterday and I wanted to build on that. But I still feel there is a lot of room to improve. I'm not where I want to be yet, but I feel like I'm on the right way, which is pretty exciting for me."

Hantuchova breezed through the first set in just under 40 minutes after breaking Williams' serve twice to take it 6-2 and led the second 4-2 before Venus hit her stride.

It wasn't the best luck today, but I feel good about my preparation (for Wimbledon)
--Venus Williams
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Williams then stormed back to take the second set before Hantuchova restored her dominance in the decider, breaking Williams twice and sealing the tie with her first match point.

Venus said: "The wind didn't make it very predictable, but I give her credit for hanging in there. On a day like today, you have to just hang in there.

"I think Daniela had a lot of motivation -- we've been playing I don't know how many years, and I am sure she has wanted to get a win against me for a long, long time."

"It wasn't the best luck today, but I feel good about my preparation (for Wimbledon). More than anything I was able to get a lot of great competition. This has been ideal. I would have liked to win here, but there are positives here too."

Hantuchova said she was glad the Williams sisters were back in tennis. "I think they're great for the game. I was really looking forward to the match today and really pleased I was able to make it through," she said.

Hantuchova will now face fifth seed Petra Kvitova, from the Czech Republic after she battled back from dropping the opening set to beat Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska 1-6 6-2 7-6.

The other semifinal will pit French No.6 seed Marion Bartoli against No.7 seed Samantha Stosur, from Australia.

Bartoli was 6-2 2-0 up against Victoria Azarenka when the Belarusian retired, while Stosur triumphed 4-6 7-6 6-4 over number one seed Vera Zvonareva.

In the men's draw, Janko Tipsarevic, from Serbian, won twice on Thursday to seal his place in the semifinal, first beating Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin and then Grigor Dimitrov, from Bulgaria by the same 6-3 7-6 scoreline.

World No. 59 Kei Nishikori beat Rainer Schuettler and then Czech Radek Stepanek to reach the final four, while Italian Andreas Seppi also went through with a win over Belgium's Olivier Rochus.