03/09/2008 12:17 PM
Elena Dementieva has continued her dazzling form to clinch a place in the US Open semi-finals at the expense of Patty Schnyder.
Fresh off her gold-medal winning performance at the Beijing Olympics, the fifth-seeded Russian breezed past the 15th seed from Switzerland 6-2 6-3 in just 76 minutes.
Schnyder held her first service game but was broken on her second and, when Dementieva broke again to establish a 4-1 advantage the first set was as good as over.
The second set looked to be following a similar pattern when the Moscow-born player secured an early break to go 3-1 up, but Schnyder battled back well and took advantage of her first break-point opportunity to level matters at 3-3.
However, Dementieva quickly snuffed out any hope her opponent had of getting back into the match by immediately breaking back and racing through the next two games to clinch victory.
Dementieva has been dominant in this campaign, winning all 10 sets played at the tournament and not even needing a tie-breaker in the process.
Still in search of her first major championship, Dementieva has made at least the last eight in each of the last three grand slams. She was eliminated in the semi-finals at Wimbledon and was ousted in the quarters at the French Open.
The 26-year-old has now won 11 consecutive matches on hardcourts.
Dementieva, who could possibly reach the world No.1 ranking upon completion of the tournament, won in Dubai in March before claiming the gold in Beijing. She has not won three WTA Tour tournaments in one year since 2003.
Next up for Dementieva at Flushing Meadows is a semi-final against Jelena Jankovic, who cruised past Sybille Bammer 6-1 6-4.
Bammer had upset 12th seed Marion Bartoli in the fourth round but their was to be no repeat against her Serbian opponent as Jankovic took one hour 30 minutes to secure the victory.
Jankovic claimed points from all eight of her net approaches while making just 14 unforced errors in comparison to Bammer's 40.
Quarter Finals, Women's Singles, US Open
5-Elena Dementieva (Russia) def. Patty Schnyder (Switzerland) 6-2 6-3
2-Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) def. Sybille Bammer (Austraia) 6-1 6-4