Jankovic Overcomes Nemesis in QFs

The highest-ranked player remaining in the draw, Jelena Jankovic continued to go full steam ahead as the tournament favorite on Thursday, snapping a four-match losing streak against Marion Bartoli to reach the semis of the Toray Pan Pacific Open.

Jankovic, the No.7 seed, won a tight first set and held off a late surge from the No.14-seeded Bartoli to win, 64 63. Jankovic led 5-1 in the second set when Bartoli reeled off two games in a row, but it was just too late and the favorite closed it out. Bartoli had won the pair's last four meetings, twice in 2007 (Wimbledon, Sony Ericsson Championships) and twice this year (Australian Open, Stanford). She still leads their head-to-head, 5-4, despite the loss.

Jankovic survived a second round exodus for the highest seeds, as all six of the Top 6 seeds - Dinara Safina, Venus Williams, Elena Dementieva, Caroline Wozniacki, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonareva - were ousted.

Next up for Jankovic will be either No.8 seed Victoria Azarenka or No.15 seed Li Na, who squared off later Thursday.

In the top half's quarterfinals, No.11 seed Agnieszka Radwanska faced Magdalena Rybarikova while Maria Sharapova took on Iveta Benesova.