AMELIA ISLAND, April 9: Justine Henin-Hardenne stole what could have been a milestone moment from Conchita Martinez. Henin-Hardenne stopped Martinez from notching her 700th career win Thursday , rallying for a 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory over the Spanish veteran to reach the quarter-finals at the 585,000-dollar Amelia Island WTA clay court tournament.

Martinez took the first set from the top-ranked Belgian and was up a break in the second before Henin-Hardenne stormed back to remain undefeated in six meetings with Martinez. Henin-Hardenne, 21, improved to 24-1 this season, with titles at Sydney, the Australian Open, Dubai and Indian Wells.

She next faces eighth-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva, who crushed No. 12 Patty Schnyder of Switzerland 6-2, 6-3. Serena Williams continued her torrid comeback. The second-seeded American defeated Karolina Sprem of Croatia, 6-1, 7-5, for her 15th straight match win dating to last season.

Williams returned to competitive tennis two weeks ago after missing eight months following knee surgery and captured the prestigous Miami title. It was her first tournament since winning Wimbledon last July. Next up for Williams is seventh seed Nadia Petrova of Russia, a 6-1, 6-4 winner over Hungary's Petra Mandula 6-1, 6-4.

Former champion Amelie Mauresmo of France took a spot in the quarter-finals with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Czech qualifier Barbora Strycova. The third seeded Frenchwoman is playing her first tournament in nine weeks after suffering a back injury at the Australian Open. Her next foe is No. 10 Silvia Farina Elia of Italy.

Farina Elia dispatched Croatia's Jelena Kostanic 6-2, 6-2, and ninth seed Paola Suarez of Argentina ousted No. 6 Ai Sugiyama of Japan, 7-5, 7-6 (10/8). Lindsay Davenport led Australian Alicia Molik 6-4 5-5 when rain stopped play for the night.

Results: