Venus Williams moved closer to top form with a 6-3, 6-2 defeat of Ana Ivanovic in a battle of former No 1 players at the Eastbourne grass-court event yesterday.

Victory for the five-time Wimbledon winner, who is joining her sister Serena in a return from long-term absence this week, took her into the quarter-finals at the Wimbledon warm-up event on the English south coast.

"I feel I'm playing very tough, playing well on big points," said Venus, who last competed at the tournament 13 years ago.

"I just need to continue.

"These matches have been huge and crucial for me to just get back literally into the swing of things.

"I'm focussing on all the positives, and I think there's a lot of them," she added.