Samantha Stosur, Kim Clijsters reach quarterfinals at Eastbourne grass-court tournament

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Stosur, Clijsters advance at Eastbourne

EASTBOURNE, England — French Open finalist Samantha Stosur and fifth-seeded Kim Clijsters reached the quarterfinals of the Eastbourne International with contrasting performances Wednesday.

Stosur outlasted Daniela Hantuchova 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, needing three match points to close out the match.

Clijsters, who won the Eastbourne title in 2005, needed just 38 minutes to sweep aside Czech player Lucie Safarova 6-1, 6-0 in the Wimbledon warm-up tournament.

In the men’s draw, top-seeded Nicolas Almagro of Spain was carried off court on a stretcher after he slipped while trying to turn on the baseline and suffered a right hip injury. He retired against Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin while trailing 6-4, 1-0.

There also was a retirement in the women’s competition, when Aravane Rezai of France sustained a right wrist injury. She retired against Spain’s Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez while behind 6-2, 3-0.

Victoria Azarenka of Belarus made the final eight by overwhelming British junior Heather Watson 6-1, 6-1, and eighth-seeded Marion Bartoli of France needed three match points before defeating Agnes Szavay 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Hantuchova, a finalist at Eastbourne in 2004, did not drop a point in her first three service games. But Stosur, coming off an impressive run on clay in Paris, forced a forehand error to break for 4-3 and then struck a forehand winner to break again for the set.

Hantuchova led 3-2 in the second set and broke again to take it when the Australian hit a double-fault.

Just one break decided the final set, when Stosur hit a forehand winner to go 4-3 ahead.

Clijsters, who is playing her first tournament since injuring her foot in a Fed Cup tie in April, has dropped just three games in her first two matches. The Belgian player allowed Safarova only seven points in the second set.

“It was a good one, quick and perfect,” Clijsters said. “I feel that I’m moving well. I feel that my foot is holding up good. Obviously, those were my main concerns, especially the foot, when I first got here.”

Svetlana Kuznetsova, whose ranking has slid to No. 20 this season, needed 2 hours, 30 minutes to overcome Sorana Cirstea 4-6, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (4). Nadia Petrova fell 6-2, 6-0 to qualifier Ekaterina Makarova in an all-Russian match.

In men’s play, French pair Julien Benneteau and Michael Llodra both made the quarterfinals.

Benneteau defeated Dudi Sela of Israel 7-6 (8), 7-5, and Llodra edged Stephane Robert, 6-1, 6-7 (2), 6-4.

Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine beat Yen-hsun Lu 6-7 (1), 6-1, 6-2.