Proximus Diamond Games

Hantuchova had to dig deep

Fourth seed Daniela Hantuchova came from behind to beat Belgian Els Callens 5-7 6-4 6-3 and reach the quarter-finals in Antwerp.

Hantuchova breezed into a 4-1 lead but then the 32-year-old Belgian, roared on by her home crowd, fought back to take the first set 7-5.

Hantuchova edged the second set and then began to get her momentum back.

Even so, Callens still refused to give in and saved six match points before the Slovak closed out for victory in just under 2� hours.

Slovenia's Tina Pisnik will play Venus Williams in the quarter-finals of after she beat France's Virginie Razzano 4-6 6-3 6-0 in the second round.

Razzano had beaten ninth seed Alexandra Stevenson in the first round and took the first set, but Pisnik raised her game and was rarely troubled from then on.

The Frenchwoman will face a tougher test against Williams, who is aiming to win this event for the third year in a row.

Qatar Total Finaelf Open

Conchita Martinez trounced British qualifier Lucie Ahl 6-0 6-2 in the second round of the Qatar Open.

Ahl rarely troubled seventh seed Martinez and dropped her serve three times in the first set as she went down 6-0.

Martinez enjoyed a fairly easy win

Martinez was serving for the match in the second set when a series of unforced errors gave Ahl her only break point of the match.

That was the closest Ahl came to ruffling her rival, and Martinez hit her way out of trouble before converting her first matchpoint.

The Spaniard now faces Lina Krasnoroutskaya, the conquerer of top seed Monica Seles in the quarter-finals.

In other matches, Nicole Pratt of Australia, Austrian Patricia Wartusch and fifth seed Elena Likhovtseva of Russia also progressed into the last eight.

Pratt needed two hours to end the challenge of Indonesia's Angelique Widjaja but came through 4-6 6-4 6-1.

Her opponent in the last eight will be Wartusch, who came back from a set down to defeat Maria Vento-Kabchi of Venezuela 0-6 6-3 6-4.

Fifth seed Likhovtseva defeated big-serving Iroda Tulyaganova of Uzbekistan 6-1 6-4.

Likhovtseva's victory means that four of the eight players left in the tournament are Russian.

She joins compatriots Anastasia Myskina, Dinara Safina and Lina Krasnoroutskaya.