Baltacha crushed after promising start

SCOTLAND'S Elena Baltacha sensed one of the biggest victories of her career when she won the first set of her Aegon International quarter-final against French Open runner-up Samantha Stosur, but collapsed to a 6-7, 6-1, 6-0 defeat as the Australian world No 7 upped her game.

"She was on a roll, she played really hot in that second and third set," said Baltacha. "There's a reason why she made the finals of Paris, she's a very good player."

Kim Clijsters was out-hit and out-shrieked as Victoria Azarenka bundled the former world No 1 out of the tournament at Eastbourne. The Belgian, sharpening her grasscourt game for next week's Wimbledon championships, lost 7-6, 6-4 at the south-coast venue which has witnessed several shocks this week.

Clijsters saved set points at 3-5 in the first set but survived to take it to a tiebreak which Azarenka won 8-6.

The second set appeared to be heading Clijsters's way but the vocal Azarenka recovered a break and marched into the semi-finals where she will face France's Marion Bartoli.

"I'm very happy," Belarussian Azarenka, whose groans and grunts shattered the peace of Devonshire Park. "The conditions were windy but I dealt with that and feel I'm playing very well on the grass."

Bartoli beat Spain's Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 while, in an all-Russian contest, qualifier Ekaterina Makarova beat former US and French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4 7-5.

Meanwhile, Ivo Karlovic, Radek Stepanek and Elena Dementieva have all pulled out of Wimbledon due to injury. Big-serving Croatian Karlovic's withdrawal with a foot injury was announced by tournament organisers this morning, with Czech world No. 25 Stepanek later revealing he could play no part due to a knee problem.

Russian Dementieva, the women's world number five who has reached the semi-finals at SW19 for the past two years, has not recovered from the calf injury which forced her to retire from her last-four clash with Francesca Schiavone at the French Open. Elsewhere, Lisa Whybourn fell at the final hurdle of Wimbledon qualifying after going down 6-1 6-2 to Andrea Hlavackova at Roehampton. The 19-year-old, who was unranked nine months ago, was one match away from the tournament proper but she was comprehensively beaten by the 22nd seed Hlavackova, who had defeated Naomi Cavaday in the previous round.

However, Whybourn's run is set to lift her into the top 400 for the first time with her current ranking standing at 410.

There are six British women in the main draw at Wimbledon – Baltacha and Anne Keothavong qualified directly while Katie O'Brien, Melanie South, Heather Watson and Laura Robson were given wild cards.