Davenport, Dementieva Roll, Venus Ousted at WTA Charleston

Failing to reach a tournament final since announcing her return to the No. 1 ranking was a "given" after defeating sister Serena in Miami, Venus Williams was ousted Thursday at the WTA stop in Charleston by 17-year-old Tatiana Golovin of France in third round play, falling 7-5, 6-4.

The loss was not a surprise to those who saw the elder Williams sister's error-strewn second-round win over Denisa Chladkova, this time with Golovin repeatedly going to Venus' forehand, an ATM machine for free points.

"It was a comedy of errors," Venus said, ever-gracious in defeat. "She's definitely a good player but I don't think she came out there and beat me. I just kept making error after error...I just think I'm having a mental letdown from all the tennis I've been playing in the last four weeks, and I just felt pretty dead."

Venus also struggled on the serve, double faulting three times in her opening service game, but Golovin said she knew the weak wing to go to and pressured the forehand.

"I just really just stuck to my game, and I think I was really solid throughout the match," Golovin said. "I didn't give her a lot of second serves to return, and I really pressured her forehand, and that's what really was key."

Top-seeded Lindsay Davenport (d. (Q) Kutuzova) and (2) Elena Dementieva (d. Llagostera Vives, bagel in the first) led the seeded advance into the quarters, joined by (7) Nadia Petrova (d. Kostanic), and (8) Patty Schnyder (d. Koukalova, bagel in the second).

Unseeded winners were Slovak Katarina Srebotnik (d. (11) Sugiyama 6-1 in the third), Czech teen Nicole Vaidisova (d. (14) Asagoe 7-6 in the third), and former No. 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne (d. Benesova), who sets up a meeting with the current No. 1 Davenport.

"I don't really want to get satisfied," said Vaidisova, following up on her upset of Anastasia Myskina. "I'm in the quarters, so everything's great, but I have to still keep playing."

On court Friday are (13) Tatiana "Hot Pants" Golovin vs. (7) Petrova (first career meeting), (1) Davenport vs. Henin-Hardenne (H-H has won the last four meetings), Srebotnik vs. (2) Dementieva (Russian leads 3-0), and (8) Schnyder vs. Vaidisova (first meeting).

"I think it will be a great opportunity for me to have another good test," Henin-Hardenne said on facing Davenport. "It's going to be the No. 1 player in the world, so I think it's going to be a tough mission for myself, and especially the surface is very fast. I know that Lindsay loves to hit winners from anywhere off the court, so I'll have to play my best tennis, and I don't know if I'm ready for this. We'll see."