World number one Justine Henin and second seed Jelena Jankovic refused to be blown off course by recording quarter-final wins on a wild and windy day at the Toronto Cup on Friday.
With just two matches under her belt since a semi-final loss at Wimbledon, Henin appeared frustrated by the gusting winds that buffeted players all day at the Rexall tennis centre.
But the battling Belgian stood her ground and weathered an early challenge from sixth-seeded Russian Nadia Petrova to post a 7-6, 6-3 win and secure a semi-final date on Saturday with Chinese qualifier Yan Zi.
Ranked 169 in the world, Yan continued her Cinderella run advancing when Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli of France retired trailing 6-2, 3-0 with the flu to become the third Chinese player to reach the semi-final of a WTA Tier I event.
Jankovic closed in on her fifth title of the season, taming Virginie Razzano of France 7-5, 6-2 to set up a final-four showdown with another Frenchwoman, Tatiana Golovin, who toppled third seed Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia 2-6, 7-5, 6-1.
"Today was the strongest (winds) I have ever experienced," Jankovic told reporters. "I was struggling with my serve because the winds were very strong...I was struggling to put it in the box.
STAY POSITIVE
"I was frustrated by just tried to stay positive."
The 13th meeting between Henin and Petrova ended in familiar fashion with the Belgian posting her 11th win, improving her record in quarter-finals this season to a 11-0.
A finalist her last two visits to Canada and winner of the title in 2003, Henin got her match off to an unsteady start as Petrova raced to a 3-0 lead.
But the world number one slowly came to grips with the blustery conditions, forcing the opener to a tie-break which she took 7-4.
"I can tell you it was terrible out there," Henin told reporters. "Here the wind turns all the time, I can tell you it's hard to play good tennis. It's tough, very tough."
Jankovic, who played earlier in the day but also had problems with the wind, seized command of a tight opening set when she broke Razzano to go up 6-5 then swept through the next five games to take the first set and 4-0 lead in the second.
Playing her first event since a quarter-final defeat by eventual champion Venus Williams at Wimbledon, Kuznetsova looked in control after taking the opening set.
The Russian, however, only held her serve once in the final two sets, Golovin sweeping nine of the next 10 games.
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