Tue Jun 3 13:29:13 2008

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Ivanovic, Jankovic to meet in all-Serbian French Open semi

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Paris, France (Sports Network) - Serbian stars Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic will tangle in the semifinals here after both women posted routine quarterfinal victories Tuesday at the 2008 French Open.

Ivanovic will appear in her second straight French Open semifinal after handling Swiss veteran Patty Schnyder 6-3, 6-2 on Day 10 at Roland Garros.

The 2007 French Open runner-up Ivanovic dismissed the 10th-seeded Schnyder in 76 minutes on Court Chatrier, as the Serb piled up four service breaks, compared to only one for Schnyder, who helped Ivanovic's cause by uncorking 31 unforced errors.

Ivanovic has yet to drop a set at this particular clay-court fortnight. She was pushed to a 7-5 second-set win over Swede Sofia Arvidsson in her opening- round match here last week.

The second-seeded Ivanovic lost to former top-ranked star Justine Henin in last year's French Open finale and gave way to reigning world No. 1 Maria Sharapova in this year's Australian Open title bout.

The 20-year-old Ivanovic has now reached at least the semifinals in four of her last five Grand Slam events.

The third-seeded Jankovic, meanwhile, cruised past upstart Spanish qualifier Carla Suarez Navarro 6-3, 6-2 on Court Lenglen. Jankovic will now appear in her fourth semifinal in her last seven Grand Slam tournaments, including two straight here at Roland Garros.

Ivanovic is 5-1 all-time versus the 23-year-old Jankovic, including a win this year on a hardcourt at Indian Wells and a 1-0 record on clay.

The fourth round wrapped up here on Tuesday, as fourth-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova handled 16th-seeded Belarusian Victoria Azarenka 6-2, 6-3 and Estonian Kaia Kanepi outlasted Czech Petra Kvitova 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. Both matches were suspended because of darkness here on Monday, with Kuznetsova leading Azarenka 6-2, 2-2 and Kanepi tied with Kvitova 6-3, 3-6 when play was called.

Kuznetsova, who will meet Kanepi in a quarterfinal here on Wednesday, was the French Open runner-up to Henin two years ago, lost to Henin in last year's U.S. Open final, and captured the U.S. Open in 2004.

Kanepi is the first-ever Estonian to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal.

"I have been believing in myself that I can play top players for a long time," said the 22-year-old Kanepi. "I was hoping for a breakthrough someday."

The quarters will conclude here on Wednesday, when Kuznetsova takes on Kanepi and seventh-seeded Elena Dementieva battles 13th-seeded fellow Russian Dinara Safina, who stunned a top-seeded Sharapova here on Monday. Dementieva is a two-time major runner-up, including a loss against Anastasia Myskina in the 2004 all-Russian finale here.