Sat Sep 27 12:09:24 2008

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Jankovic, Kuznetsova to meet in Beijing final

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Beijing, China (Sports Network) - Former world No. 1 Serbian Jelena Jankovic and fourth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova both posted semifinal victories Saturday at the $600,000 China Open.

Jankovic, who was last year's Beijing runner-up to Hungarian Agnes Szavay, needed three sets to subdue 24-year-old Russian and five-seed Vera Zvonareva 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.

The top-seeded U.S. Open runner-up Jankovic entered the semis after handling seventh-seeded Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova 7-5, 6-1, on Friday.

Kuznetsova, last week's runner-up in Tokyo, took down Chinese crowd favorite Jie Zheng 7-6 (7-3), 7-5.

Zheng had gained the semis with a 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 6-4 triumph over second- seeded Ana Ivanovic in a grueling two-hour, 54-minute affair on the hardcourts on Friday at Beijing Tennis Center.

The 2008 China Open titlist will collect $95,500.