Baltacha battled hard in the opener but Stosur then took control

British hopes in the Aegon International singles events ended with defeats for Elena Baltacha and James Ward in Eastbourne on Thursday.

Baltacha could not maintain a strong start as she was beaten by Australian third seed Sam Stosur.

The Scot took the first set on a tie-break but Stosur rallied to win 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 6-0.

Seventh seed Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine saw off Ward 6-3 6-4 in the men's quarter-finals.

Dolgopolov, the world number 47, broke once in each set as 342nd-ranked Ward fought off 14 break points before going down after one hour and 20 minutes.

There was better news for Britain in the men's doubles as Colin Fleming and Ken Skupski beat Brazilians Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares 6-4 6-4 to reach the final.

British number one Baltacha battled well in the opening set of her quarter-final, edging the tie-break, but Stosur upped her game after that.

It's still been a very good week Elena Baltacha

The Australian broke three times in the second set and carried the momentum into the decider to seal the win.

Baltacha coped superbly with everything the Australian, ranked seventh in the world, threw at her in the opening set.

She earned two break points in the ninth game but Stosur saved both, first with an ace and then a forehand winner.

The Briton, who beat the world number 24 Zheng Jie in three sets to reach the last eight, twice had to serve to stay in the set but held her nerve superbly.

In the tie-break, she dropped her opening service point but a Stosur error swiftly got her back on terms and at 6-5 on the Stosur serve, the Australian netted, much to the delight of the Briton.

But Baltacha found herself under pressure at the start of the second set and lost her opening service game, with Stosur converting the first of her three break points.

The Australian swept through the rest of the set with Baltacha unable to keep pace with her opponent.

606: DEBATE Elena just couldn't live with Sam when she stepped it up, but it was a fine gutsy effort NH

Both players made a shaky start to the decider but it was Stosur who kept cool to hold her serve in the first game and then break Baltacha to make it 2-0.

Although Baltacha had a break-back opportunity in the next game, she was undone by a Stosur winner and the Australian powered her way to victory.

"It's still been a very good week," Baltacha told the LTA website. "My goal was to have a pop at a top player and I made the quarter-finals. I didn't think I would do that in such a strong draw.

"Going into next week, after winning in Nottingham and making quarter-finals here, I couldn't have asked for better preparation. I'm going in very confident whoever I get."

Stosur will face Russia's Ekaterina Makarova in the last four after she defeated compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4 7-5.

Elsewhere, Kim Clijsters, the fifth seed, suffered a surprise 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 loss to Victoria Azarenka of Belarus.

The Belgian, who won the Eastbourne title in 2005, was playing her first tournament since injuring her foot in a Fed Cup tie in April.

"I felt I was looking for rhythm and timing, compared to my singles yesterday," said Clijsters. "Her shots are hard and low, and it's tough to get an angle against her."

Azarenka will next face eighth seed Marion Bartoli, who progressed to the semis with a 5-7 6-4 7-6 (7-5) win over Spaniard Maria Jose Martinez.

In the men's event, Dolgopolov goes on to play Denis Istomin in the last four, while on the other side of the draw Michael Llodra beat third seed Gilles Simon 6-1 6-3 to set up a semi-final against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

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