British No. 2 Amanda Janes has high hopes of a Wimbledon windfall after a tough lesson against Eastbourne top seed Amelie Mauresmo.

The former Cambridge University student was blown away 6-4, 6-2 by the world No. 4 from France in the last 16 of the Hastings Direct Championships at windy Devonshire Park yesterday.

She still earned around £6,000, a drop in the ocean compared to the £100,000 offered by the tournament sponsors if a British woman reaches the same stage at Wimbledon, where her mother Christine Truman reached the final in 1961.

"I told a friend of mine about that and they said 'are Hastings worried' in a rather jokey way. I said they should be," Janes insisted. "It's a wonderful thing for them to do and it's a great goal. I would certainly love to have £100,000.

"I believe I can do it, you have to otherwise there is no point in playing. My game is well suited to grass and my left hand serve is still working quite well."

Mauresmo's verdict on Janes suggests the East Sussex motor insurance company's money is safe. "She has a pretty good serve, then the rest of her game is pretty up and down," said the Wimbledon fourth seed.

"She missed some easy volleys and overheads and she will have to work on her backhand on other surfaces and put a little topspin on it sometimes, because she always does the same thing."

Janes, ranked 240 and among four British wild cards for Wimbledon, was behind early in both sets.

"I was disappointed to lose the opening game when I was 40-15 up and then slipped over," said the 26-year-old from Essex. "I think that took away my confidence. I was 2-0 down before I even got into the match.

"It was interesting playing Amelie because she came up with a much higher quality of play than I am used to and that is something for me to work on between now and Wimbledon.

"We are playing different tours. She is doing the French and Italian Open, I'm doing Holland and Tipton, but I would like to think I can bridge the gap."

Mauresmo's quarter-final opponent today is eighth seed Magdalena Maleeva.

The Bulgarian won a remarkable encounter against 1994 Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez 3-6, 7-5, 6-4, recovering from a set and 5-1 down and saving a match point to record her first victory in a dozen clashes with the Spaniard dating back to 1993.

Mauresmo warned the Williams sisters earlier this week "the Russians are coming" and two of them have joined her in the quarter-finals.

Teenager Vera Zvonareva, seeded four, overcame Mauresmo's French colleague Nathalie Dechy 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 in the opening match on centre court.

The 19-year-old Muscovite's next opponent is Spain's Maria Sanchez Lorenzo. She prevented an all-Russian affair by beating Elena Bovina in another three-setter.

Second seed Svetlana Kuznetzova breezed past Venezualan Maria Vento-Kabchi in straight sets and now faces Slovenian Tina Pisnik.

Japanese third seed Ai Sugiyama edged past Russian qualifier Elena Likhovtseva 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 to secure an intriguing tussle against Daniela Hantuchova, who also won in three sets against Croatian Karolina Sprem.

Anna Kournikova, now forging a new career in modelling and PR, became more renowned for her stunning looks than her tennis, but the current breed of Russians are proving they can play a bit. They have nine players in the world's top 40, one more than the Americans.

Kuznetsova is ranked nine, Zvonareva 14, Bovina 22 and Likhovtseva 40.

Marat Safin's sister Dinara Safina, knocked out in the first round by Likhovtseva, is at 31.

Four more leading Russians are not playing at Eastbourne. Anastasia Myskina, the world No. 3 and second seed for Wimbledon in-between Serena and Venus Williams, defeated Maria Sharapova (15) in the final of the French Open. They also have Elena Dementieva (6) and Nadia Petrova (12).

Virginia Wade, Wimbledon champion in 1977, said: "There were only a couple of Russian players in my day. When you get as many as there are now they push each other.

"They are pretty tough competitors and they are well taught.

"They have only got two clubs in Moscow and they don't have great facilities, but they are very solid clubs with a good tradition."

Organisers believe yesterday's attendance of more than 5,800 is the fourth highest in the 30-year history of the event.