Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova plays a return to Venus Williams (inset) of the United States during their singles quarterfinal at the Eastbourne International grasscourt tournament in Eastbourne, England, yesterday. Hantuchova won 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.

Venus Williams will be restricted to the practice courts as she continues her preparation for Wimbledon after she was beaten 2-6, 7-5, 2-6 by Daniela Hantuchova in the quarterfinals of the Eastbourne International yesterday.

Her defeat comes a day after the dismissal of Serena Williams by top-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva as the American sisters both return from lengthy injury breaks.

Hantuchova had previously won just two sets in 10 previous meetings with Williams but has been in good form recently, reaching the Birmingham final last week. She advances to her third semifinal in her last four events.

Williams will target her sixth Wimbledon title when the tournament begins on Monday.

Hantuchova dominated the listless American in the first set, serving well, playing aggressively and showing confidence in going for the lines.

The former No. 5-ranked Slovak broke in the third game after Williams double-faulted and then made a backhand error, and she broke again to lead 5-2 with a superb backhand pass down the line.

Williams offered a brief challenge as Hantuchova served for the set but failed to convert three break points before the latter closed out the set with a crosscourt winner.

The American, playing her first event since retiring with hip and abdominal injuries during the Australian Open in January, first faced defeat as Hantuchova held a break point in the second set to lead 5-3. But the Slovak hit a ball down the line that landed wide, and Williams went on to break for 4-4 when her return clipped the net and fell in her favor.

Williams then broke to love for the set when Hantuchova netted a weak backhand.

With both players battling a strong wind, Hantuchova regained the upper hand in the final set, breaking for 1-0. Williams made a brief revival, leveling at 2-2 before her opponent swept the next four games.

"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.

The unseeded Slovak had upset French Open champion and second seed Li Na of China 7-6 (7), 6-3 in the earlier round on Wednesday.

In the men's draw, Belgian Olivier Rochus rallied past Carlos Berlocq of Argentina 3-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3) in the second round while third seed Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia defeated Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan, 6-3, 7-6 (2). Also, Japan's Kei Nishikori beat German veteran Rainer Schuettler 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.

Nishikori was taking on Radek Stepanek next after the Czech upset top seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France 2-6, 3-6 on Wednesday.

The 26-year-old Frenchman, beaten by Andy Murray in the rain-delayed final of the Queen's tournament on Monday and seeded 12th for Wimbledon next week, looked out of sorts as he lost in just over an hour in his third match in three days.

After his exploits in west London, which included a victory over world No. 1 Rafael Nadal, Tsonga beat Russian Denis Istomin 6-2, 7-5 in the first round on Tuesday but ran out of steam and lost concentration against the 32-year-old Czech, a Wimbledon quarter-finalist five years ago.

In Den Bosch, the Netherlands, Roberta Vinci beat third-seeded Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium 6-4, 6-4 yesterday in a rain-delayed quarterfinal of the Unicef Open.

The fifth-seeded Italian capitalized on an error-strewn performance by Wickmayer to break the Belgian's serve once in the first set and three times in the second.

The start of the match was delayed by persistent rain and play was briefly interrupted by another shower with Vinci leading 3-2 in the second set.

Also, Jelena Dokic of Australia saw off Swede Johanna Larsson 7-6 (2), 6-4, and Italian Romina Oprandi, who ousted top seed Kim Clijsters of Belgium in the second round, beat Japan's Kimiko Date-Krumm 7-6 (3), 6-4.