Hantuchova finally beats Venus to reach Eastbourne semis
Daniela Hantuchova beat Venus Williams for the first time in 11 career meetings to advance to the...
Daniela
Hantuchova beat Venus Williams for the first time in 11 career meetings
to advance to the semi-finals of the Eastbourne International grass
court tournament on Thursday.
The Slovak overcame difficult,
windy conditions to triumph 6-2 5-7 6-2 and cut short Williams' comeback
before she begins her bid for a sixth Wimbledon singles title next
week.
Playing her first tournament
following a five-month layoff with an abdominal injury, the American had
looked impressive in beating Ana Ivanovic in straight sets on
Wednesday.
Having beaten Hantuchova
in all 10 of their previous meetings dating back to 2001, she must have
been confident of another success in the battle between two unseeded
quarter-finalists but was outclassed in the first set.
The
American fought back from a break down to take the second as the wind
contributed to some wild hitting but Hantuchova, who reached the final
of last week's Birmingham grass court event, soon took command again to
dominate the decisive set.
"I was
hitting the ball well before it got really windy and then it got
difficult for both of us and then it was a question of who had the
mentality to win," Hantuchova told British Eurosport."
