CHARLESTON (South Carolina), April 15: Champion Venus Williams was unceremoniously dumped out of the Family Circle Cup on Thursday, beaten 7-5 6-4 by 17-year-old Tatiana Golovin of France in the third round. Top seed Lindsay Davenport, number two Elena Dementieva and former world number one Justine Henin-Hardenne all advanced but fourth seeded Williams paid the price for an error-laden performance, particularly on her forehand.

Golovin will meet seventh seed Nadia Petrova of Russia in the quarterfinals.

Williams said the efforts of the past month, when she played back-to-back events in Miami, Amelia Island and here, had taken their toll.

In cold, windy conditions, Williams, who had struggled past Denisa Chladkova in her opening match on Wednesday, double-faulted three times in the first game to give 13th seed Golovin the early break.

Earlier, Petrova advanced to the last eight when she beat Croatian Jelena Kostanic 6-3 6-3.

Former world number one Justine Henin-Hardenne set up a showdown with current number one Lindsay Davenport thanks to a 6-2 6-3 drubbing of Iveta Benesova.

Results (third round): Nadia Petrova (RUS) bt Jelena Kostanic (CRO) 6-3, 6-3; Patty Schnyder (SUI) bt Klara Koukalova (CZE) 6-4, 6-0; Katarina Srebotnik (SLO) bt Ai Sugiyama (JPN) 6-1, 4-6, 6-1; Tatiana Golovin (FRA) bt Venus Williams (USA) 7-5, 6-4; Nicole Vaidisova (CZE) bt Shinobu Asagoe (JPN) 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/2); Justine Henin-Hardenne (BEL) bt Iveta Benesova (CZE) 6-2, 6-3;Elena Dementieva (RUS) bt Nuria Llagostera Vives (ESP) 6-0, 6-3.

Federer survives

MONTE CARLO: Roger Federer survived a ferocious onslaught from powerful Chilean Fernando Gonzales at the Monte Carlo Masters on Thursday, winning 6-2 6-7 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals.