By DPA
Antwerp (Belgium) : Number three Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia has joined fellow seeds Patty Schnyder and Li Na in the quarterfinals of the Proximus Diamond Games tennis tournament here.
Hantuchova Wednesday defeated teenager Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium 6-4, 6-3 en route to the last eight round.
Hantuchova forced Wickmayer, ranked 163 in the world, to save five break points in the second game and earned the first set on a break in the final game. In the second, she reached 4-2 but had to save a break point in the last game to close it out.
Thirteenth seed Schnyder and ninth seed Li also reached the quarterfinals with straight sets wins over their respective opponents.
Long-serving Schnyder, playing for the eighth time at the Sportpaleis, prevailed over Japan’s Ai Sugiyama 6-3, 6-4, while Li beat Slovak teenager Domenika Cibulkova 6-4, 6-3, only to face Hantuchova in the next round.
Swiss qualifier Timea Bacsinszky joined compatriot Schnyder with a battling three sets victory over Olga Govortsova of Belarus 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.
However, the main course of the week comes Thursday, when world No. 1 Justin Henin opens her third and final Diamond Games campaign against Bulgarian qualifier Tsvetana Pironkova.
The event, which has awarded several diamond-encrusted racquets to players who had won the tournament three times in their career, has fallen victim to a WTA calendar shake-up from next season and will not be featuring in the tournament after this edition.
Officials are hoping to stage an invitational exhibition in its place to keep local fans coming through the gates.
This year’s edition is all about Henin, who will be playing for the first time since losing a one-way Australian Open quarterfinal last month to eventual winner Maria Sharapova of Russia.
The 25-year-old Belgian with four Roland Garros titles last played at home on the WTA in 2003.
“This week is a real challenge and I like challenges. Everybody expects me to last well into the weekend. Thursday will be really special,” Henin said.
Henin is focussing long-term efforts in 2008 on winning the Wimbledon title, which has eluded her, and defending her gold medal at the Beijing Olympics.
“Winning in Athens gave me so much pleasure,” she said. “The Olympics is very high for me this season.
“Wimbledon is also a goal, it’s the only Grand Slam that I haven’t won. There’s a lot of pressure, but we will see,” she said.
Schnyder, holder of 10 career titles, has always enjoyed the tournament but has made only one semi-final appearance, that too six years ago. “I love being back here, I like the atmosphere,” she said.