Top seed Amelie Mauresmo is on course to claim her first grass court title at Eastbourne after another smooth victory in the quarter-finals of the Hastings Direct Championships.

The world No.4 saw off Magdalena Maleeva, seeded eight, 6-4, 6-3, a repeat of her straight sets victory against the experienced Bulgarian in the last 16 of the French Open.

The powerful 24-year-old has yet to drop a set and, in the absence of the other eight top players in the rankings, remains a firm favourite to pocket the £50,000 winner's prize on Saturday.

She did drop serve once in a troublesome wind on centre court but, after breaking straight back to level at 2-2 in the first set, there was never much prospect of Maleeva avoiding a fifth defeat in six meetings.

When the plucky 29-year-old, trailing 5-4, engineered four opportunities to restore parity again, Mauresmo rescued each one with a heavy first serve including an ace to take the set in 40 minutes.

Mauresmo then got the better of three successive breaks at the beginning of the second set before taking Maleeva's serve for a fifth time to secure her place in the semi-finals, where she faces a glamour clash today against the rejuvenated Daniela Hantuchova.

"Conditions were the same for both of us, but it was very difficult to control the ball the way we wanted to and to produce some high level tennis," said Mauresmo. "It was pretty tough and sometimes very frustrating.

"I think my game is coming together. There are still some volleys I shouldn't miss, but I am pretty happy about the whole picture."

Mauresmo has been drawn against Croatian Jelena Kostanic in the first round at Wimbledon, where she reached the semi-finals two years ago.

The immediate task is to halt the revival of Hantuchova, who upset third seed Ai Sugiyama from Japan in straight sets.

"We played in the Federation Cup a couple of years ago," recalled Mauresmo. "She seems to be coming back pretty strong, but I am just going to focus on what I have to do, making sure I go forward.

"I want to serve and volley more. That is very effective on this surface."

The finest exponent of that art turned back the clock again in the Eastbourne Cup, the consolation event for first round and qualifying losers.

Martina Navratilova, ranked 1001, would you believe, followed up her victory on Wednesday against world No. 17 Anna Smashnova-Pistolesi from Israel with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Italian Rita Grande.

Navratilova, 47, makes her Wimbledon singles comeback next week after a break of ten years against Colombian unknown Catalina Castano.

Mauresmo said: "I hope she just enjoys being on court. To me she invented the game on grass. It's just unbelievable to see her at this level, especially physically."

Navratilova is through to the final of the Cup after her semi-final opponent Elena Baltacha withdrew on medical advice. Baltacha, the British No. 4, has to be careful not to play too much because of a liver condition.

Unseeded Hantuchova, coached by Nigel Sears from Lewes, showed again she is on the way back from a dramatic loss of weight and form.

The 21-year-old Slovakian recovered from 5-2 down in the second set to sink Sugiyama, a tough Wimbledon opponent for British No. 2 Amanda Janes, 6-1, 7-6 (9-7).

Hantuchova, back with Sears after a brief split, said: "Nigel has helped me so much in the last couple of months. He has played a big part in my progress, especially this week. He understands what I need to practice and during matches what is going on in my head.

"That has been one of the big differences this week. I have been more focused, even when things are not going my way."

In the bottom half of the draw, rising Russian teenager Vera Zvonareva justified her fourth seeding with a comfortable success against Spain's Maria Sanchez Lorenzo, 6-3, 6-0.

Zvonareva has made big strides since an impressive debut at the French Open in 2002, where she reached the fourth round before taking a set off eventual champion Serena Williams.

Her ranking soared from 371 to 45 that year and she is now up to 14 after winning a tour event in Memphis earlier this year. The 19-year-old blonde from Moscow is clearly a player to watch out for.

So too is 18-year-old Svetlana Kuznetsova, Zvonareva's rival today in an all-Russian semi-final. The second seed, who won five doubles titles with Navratilova last year, struggled for more than two hours to beat Slovenian Tina Pisnik 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. Pisnik needed the trainer after hurting her left thigh in a fall when 2-1 up with a break in the decider.

l Tim Henman