Venus crashes out of Charleston

Published by AP

Venus Williams fell to Yulia Putintseva in the third round of the Volvo Car Open in Charleston; Getty Images

Venus Williams is out of the WTA event in Charleston after losing to Yulia Putintseva of Kazakstan 7-6(5) 2-6 6-4.

Williams, seeded third and ranked 14th, had a chance to regain a place in the top 10 had she won this match. Instead, Putintseva won five of the final six games Thursday to advance.

Williams became the fifth of the top eight seeds in Charleston to lose before the quarterfinals.

Top-seeded Angelique Kerber avoided that trend earlier in the day with a 6-2 6-3 victory over Slovakia’s Kristina Kucova.

Kerber is the defending champion after winning the 2015 Family Circle Cup final in an epic over Madison Keys.

The second-ranked German star was not her best, but good enough to put away Kucova.

Kerber broke her opponent seven times, including the final game.

Also advancing was No.5 seed Sara Errani and seventh seed Sloane Stephens, who overcame Australians Sam Stosur and Daria Gavrilova respectively.

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