Venus Williams knocked out by brilliant Ostapenko in Birmingham

By Oli Dickson Jefford

Jelena Ostapenko prevailed in a battle of Grand Slam champions against Venus Williams to reach the last eight at the LTA’s Rothesay Classic Birmingham.

In a hard-fought encounter, Ostapenko was broken while serving for the match in the second set and was forced to a decider, but ultimately prevailed 6-3 5-7 6-3 against the American.

Elsewhere, wildcard doubles pairing Freya Christie and Ali Collins pushed second seeds Barbora Krejcikova and Marta Kostyuk all the way in a tight encounter.

Collins and Christie were significant underdogs against Kostyuk and Krejcikova, the Czech being an 11-time Grand Slam winner across all three disciplines.

But the British pairing certainly proved their worth despite defeat, the second seeds having prevail in a deciding tiebreak in a 6-3 5-7 [10-5] victory on Court 1.

Meanwhile, Krejcikova also sealed a quarter-final spot in the singles draw.

The Czech, the top seed in Birmingham, saw off compatriot Tereza Martincova 6-4 6-4 and will now face another Czech in the form of Linda Fruhvirtova in Friday’s quarter-finals.

Elsewhere, qualifier Magdalena Frech pulled off a shock as she defeated eighth seed Sorana Cirstea 6-3 6-7(1) 6-4 to set up a meeting against Ostapenko, while lucky loser Rebecca Marino battled past Emina Bektas 6-4 4-6 7-6(1).

Fourth seed Anastasia Potapova rallied from a set down to defeat Caty McNally 3-6 6-2 7-6(0) to progress.

For the latest action on the British summer grass court season, check out the LTA website