Dubai: Jelena Jankovic will meet Agnieszka Radwanska in the semi-finals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships after both women recorded straight-sets wins in the last eight.
Eighth seed Jankovic beat fourth seed Samantha Stosur 6-4, 6-2, while Radwanska, seeded five, powered her way past Sabine Lisicki for the loss of only three games.
Jankovic, one of three former World No 1s in the women's quarter-final draw, put the win down to her return of serve.
"I think the key was my return," Jankovic said.
"She has one of the best, if not the best, serves in the women's game.
"It's never easy to return her serve. So I was really focused on that and I really tried to make as many returns as possible in the court, and then I could feel comfortable afterwards."
Unforced errors
Playing in her fifth quarter-final in eight visits to Dubai, the Serb needed just one break in the seventh game to take the first set.
The players exchanged breaks at the start of the second, before too many unforced errors from Australian Stosur allowed Jankovic to run away with it in under 90 minutes.
Later in the afternoon, a focused Radwanska dismantled Lisicki, breaking early in the first and then again to race through the set.
The second was even easier as Radwanska broke in the first, third and fifth games for a 5-0 cushion.
Lisicki replied with a break of her own in the sixth game, before losing her serve again and the match in the seventh.
Meanwhile, the second-seeded pair of Sania Mirza and Elena Vesnina booked their place in the doubles semi-finals with a 6-1, 4-6, 1-0 (8) win against Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez and Shahar Peer.
Mirza and Vesnina, who came together in February last year, were one of the most successful doubles pairings of 2011 with two titles, a French Open final and a Wimbledon semi-final to their names.
Yesterday they showed their pedigree as a combination by taking the first set with ease. But they lost a bit of focus in the second, recovering to win the deciding super tie-breaker.
Also booking a place in the last four were Nuria Llagostera Vives and Anastasia Rodionova, with a 6-3, 2-6, 1-0 (10) victory over the American duo of Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears.
Llagoestera Vives and Rodionova will face the top-seeded pairing of Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond today.
RESULTS
(Singles quarter-finals): Jelena Jankovic bt Samantha Stosur 6-4, 6-2; Agnieszka Radwanska bt Sabine Lisicki 6-2, 6-1. (Doubles quarter-finals): Sania Mirza/Elena Vesnina bt Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez/Shahar Peer 6-1, 4-6, 1-0 (8); Iveta Benesova/Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 6-3, 2-6, 1-0; Nuria Llogostera Vives/Anastasia Rodionova bt Raquel Kops-Jones/Abigail Spears 6-3, 2-6, 1-0 (10).
