Indo-Pak Express crashes out of Eastbourne

Hantuchova finally triumphs over Venus to reach singles semi-finals.

EASTBOURNE:

The top-seeded pair of Aisamul Haq Qureshi and Rohan Bopanna made a shocking exit from the ATP Eastbourne event after suffering a straight-set defeat in the doubles quarter-finals to the unseeded combination of Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria and Italian Andreas Seppi.

The 7-5, 6-3 loss ends their surge in the last warm-up tournament before the grasscourt Wimbledon Championships.

Bopanna and Qureshi were given little opportunity to recover from their slump in the first set. The pair could convert just one of the four break points while failed to convert any in the second set.

Hantuchova beats Venus

Daniela Hantuchova, who had suffered 10 losses in her career against Venus Williams, finally triumphed after registering a 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 win in the singles quarter-final against the American player.

The Slovak had won just two sets against Venus previously but made sure that this time around would be a different case. She sent Venus, holder of five Wimbledon titles, packing to end the Williams' sisters run in the tournament after Serena had lost to top-seed Vera Zvonareva.

"I felt I came out and played well early in the match," said Hantuchova. "The wind picked up and made things tough for both of us. It was then about who had the mentality and I came through. I'm feeling really good. My form is good."

Published in The Express Tribune, June 17^th, 2011.