EASTBOURNE: Serena Williams' comeback ran out of steam at Eastbourne Wednesday as she lost 3-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5 to top-seeded Vera Zvonareva in the second round. Zvonareva came through a tense tussle in 3 hours, 12 minutes for only her second win in eight matches against the 13-time Grand Slam champion. “I know I can do better,” Serena said. “I can improve and I'm so close to being there, it's good.” The No. 3-ranked Russian gained a measure of revenge for her 6-3, 6-2 loss in last year's Wimbledon final that turned out to be Serena's last match for almost a year as she recovered from a cut on her foot which led to blood clots on her lungs. “It's never easy against Serena,” Zvonareva said. “She's a great fighter and she came up with some great shots at the very important moments. I kept fighting and I'm really happy I won it.” Returning from her own injury layoff, Venus Williams had earlier reached the quarterfinals with a convincing 6-3, 6-2 win over Ana Ivanovic. Venus, playing her second match following a five-month layoff, will face Daniela Hantuchova in the quarterfinals. The five-time Wimbledon champion didn't face a single break point in the first set while breaking Ivanovic twice. “Right now I feel that I'm playing very tough and I'm playing well on the big points,” Venus said. “These matches have been huge and crucial for me to just get back in the swing of things.” Hantuchova knocked out Li Na 7-6 (7), 6-3. Li, playing her first tournament since winning the French Open, held five set points in the tiebreaker and led 3-1 in the second set before losing the last five games. Defending champion Ekaterina Makarova of Russia lost 7-6 (8), 7-6 (4) to fifth-seeded Czech Petra Kvitova. Fourth-seeded Francesca Schiavone was beaten 6-3, 6-2 by Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska, but sixth-seeded Marion Bartoli advanced with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez and Australian seventh seed Sam Stosur defeated Serbian qualifier Bojana Jovanovski 6-3, 6-2. Only one seeded player remains in the men's event after top-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was beaten 6-2, 6-3 by Radek Stepanek and sixth-seeded South African Kevin Anderson was defeated 6-3, 6-2 by Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria. The only remaining seed is No. 3 Janko Tipsarevic, who defeated Britain's James Ward 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 in a first-round match that had been suspended overnight at one set all. His second-round match against Russian Mikhail Kukushkin was halted by rain early in the first set. Wickmayer wins In the Netherlands, third-seeded Yanina Wickmayer recovered from being hit in the face by a tennis ball to beat Arantxa Parra Santonja 7-6 (4), 6-7 (4), 7-5 in the second round of the Unicef Open Wednesday. Also, second-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova reached the quarterfinals after rallying from a set down to beat Sara Errani of Italy 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-1. Wickmayer was leading 2-1 in the second when a ball ricocheted off her racket's frame and hit her in the face, close to her left eye, as she attempted a backhand service return. The Belgian looked shaken and sat in her chair for several minutes, holding a bottle of water to her face, before resuming the match. In the men's draw, another third-seeded Belgian, Xavier Malisse, had an easier second-round match, beating Dutch wildcard Jesse Huta Galung 7-6 (2), 6-4. Malisse's quarterfinal opponent will be American Alex Bogomolov Jr., who beat Filippo Volandri of Italy 7-6 (2), 6-2. Second-seeded Marcos Baghdatis overcame Robin Haase 7-5, 6-4. Jelena Dokic had her second straight-set victory of the tournament to beat fourth-seeded Flavia Pennetta 6-3, 6-4. The Australian meets Johanna Larsson in the quarterfinals after the Swede beat Kirsten Flipkens 6-2, 5-7, 6
