Proximus Diamond Games

Top seed Venus Williams eased into the quarter-finals with a 6-1 6-1 victory over Maja Matevzic of Slovenia.

Williams raced to a 5-0 lead in the first set and never looked back, winning the match in 50 minutes.

Third seed Justine Henin-Hardenne joined her with a hard-fought win over Czech teenager Zuzana Ondraskova.

Henin-Hardenne raced to a 5-1 lead before a lapse in concentration allowed her opponent - who has a world ranking of 132 - back into the set.

The Belgian came through 6-4 before going 3-5 down in the second.

I'm happy I'm still in the tournament Justine Henin-Hardenne

But Ondraskova's game then fell apart with a rash of double faults and unforced errors, allowing Henin-Hardenne to secure victory in the tiebreak to delight her home crowd.

Henin-Hardenne had a bye in the first round but fellow seed Alexandra Stevenson fell at the opening stage.

The American ninth seed was beaten 6-3 6-2 by lucky loser Virginie Razzano of France.

Seventh seed Patty Schnyder of Switzeland beat Czech player Denisa Chladkova 7-5 6-0.

Qatar Total Finaelf Open

Top seed Monica Seles was surprisingly beaten 7-5 7-5 by unseeded Russian Lina Krasnoroutskaya in the second round.

The 18-year-old, who is coming back from injury and was beaten by Seles in Japan last month, held her nerve well in a tight contest.

Krasnoroutskaya celebrates victory

"It just wasn't my day. I had problems with my serve and groundstrokes," said Seles.

"Lina played very well and she kept me under pressure."

Second seed Anastasia Myskina beat Mary Pierce of France 7-5 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals.

Pierce looked sluggish against the two-time champion, dropping her serve twice in the first set to slump to 1-5.

The Frenchwoman rallied but her 23-year-old Russian opponent clinched it 7-5, and one break in the second was sufficient for victory.

"The first thing I need to do is get back into shape," admitted Pierce after the match.

"But the match was close as the score shows and I felt I had a chance till the very end."

Myskina was joined in the last eight by third seed Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria who outclassed Martina Sucha of Slovakia 6-4 6-2.