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

Williams, seeded third and ranked 14th, had a chance to gain 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 quarter-finals.

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

Kerber is the defending champion after winning the title in last year’s Family Circle Cup. 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.

Sam Stosur is in action against fifth-seeded Italian Sara Errani with Daria Gavrilova facing Sloane Stephens for a place in the quarter-finals later on Thursday..