Elena Dementieva is through to the US Open semi-finals after a convincing 6-2 6-3 victory over Patty Schnyder.
Olympic champion still going strong
Elena Dementieva is through to the US Open semi-finals after a convincing 6-2 6-3 victory over Patty Schnyder.
The Olympic champion will meet Jelena Jankovic in the last four after continuing her impressive run of form at Flushing Meadows.
Dementieva, the fifth seed, has won her last 11 matches and 16 of her last 18 and would become the new world number one if she can capture her first Grand Slam title.
"I feel great," said Dementieva after knocking out the Swiss 15th seed. "It was a tough match. I was going very positive, very aggressive the whole way and I was very happy about that."
Trouble
Dementieva, who has overcome her renowned serving demons in recent months, lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the 2004 final in New York and reached the last four in 2000 and 2005.
After reaching the quarter-finals at the French Open and the last four at Wimbledon, Dementieva captured the gold medal at the Beijing Games to cap her return to the world's top five.
"It's never easy against Patty but I was pleased with the way I played," she added. "The serve was the key. It was very successful."
Dementieva, who won 30 of 39 first serve points, took the first set in 33 minutes and then secured three breaks of serve to Schnyder's one in the second to win in one hour and 16 minutes.
Unforced
Jankovic reached her third Grand Slam semi-final of the season with a 6-1 6-4 victory over Sybille Bammer of Austria.
Bammer had knocked out 12th seed Marion Bartoli in the fourth round but she was outclassed by the Serbian.
A total of 40 unforced errors did little to help Bammer's cause, with Jankovic making just 14.
And Jankovic was delighted at the manner of her victory.
"I'm happy about winning in two sets," she said.
"I feel that every day I'm better and better. I'm moving a lot better. I'm feeling my shots a lot better.
"I think that is the most important thing for me right now. I'm just here to play one match at a time and so I'm happy to be in the semi-finals again."
