Wed Apr 2 14:47:30 2008

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Jankovic whips Dementieva to reach Miami semis

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Miami, FL (Sports Network) - Serbian star Jelena Jankovic drilled two-time Grand Slam runner-up Elena Dementieva of Russia in quarterfinal action Wednesday at the $3.77 million Sony Ericsson Open.

The fourth-seeded Jankovic was leading the 10th-seeded Dementieva 6-1, 3-1 when the Russian retired from the bout due to a back injury. The match was over in just under one hour. Dementieva, who reached the final here back in 2004, was riding an eight-match overall winning streak, having titled in Dubai last month.

The Aussie Open semifinalist Jankovic will face Wednesday night's Dinara Safina-Vera Zvonareva victor in Thursday's semifinals at Crandon Park. The other semi will pit third-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova against eighth- seeded American Serena Williams. Kuznetsova titled here two years ago, while the reigning Miami champion Serena is seeking her fifth championship here in seven years. Serena took out top-seeded Belgian stalwart Justine Henin here on Tuesday in a rematch of last year's finale, which was also captured by the powerful American.

The 2008 Miami champion will collect $590,000.