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Elena Dementieva moves into the semifinals

— Photo: AFP

ON A WINNING RUN: Olympic champion Elena Dementieva, who has had good success this season, moved a step closer to her maiden Grand Slam singles crown by beating Patty Schnyder in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.

NEW YORK: Olympic champion Elena Dementieva advanced to her fourth U.S. Open semifinals on Tuesday, the Russian fifth seed extending the best run of her career by defeating Swiss 15th seed Patty Schnyder 6-2, 6-3.

Dementieva, who has won 11 matches in a row and 16 of her past 18, would become the new world No.1 if she can capture her first Grand Slam title.

“I feel great,” Dementieva said. “It was a tough match. I was going very positive, very aggressive the whole way and I was very happy about that.”

Dementieva, a semifinal loser in 2000 and 2005, reached the final here in 2004, losing to compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova after having taken the runner-up spot at Roland Garros earlier that year.

But Dementieva called this year the greatest streak of her career, having recovered her top-five form to reach the French Open quarterfinals, Wimbledon semifinals and capture Olympic gold.

Dementieva, who also won in Dubai this year, improved to 10-7 lifetime against Schynder with her fourth victory in a row over the Swiss veteran, who at 29 was the oldest women in the Flushing Meadows final eight.

“It’s never easy against Patty but I was pleased with the way I played,” Dementieva said. “The serve was the key. It was very successful.”

The Russian captured the first set in just 33 minutes after Schnyder sent a backhand drop volley just side of the line.

Dementieva, 26, and Schnyder traded breaks in the fifth and sixth games of the second set.

Dementieva broke back on her fifth chance of the seventh game for a 4-3 edge, then held and broke again to end matters after 76 minutes.

Meanwhile, the Williams sisters set up another family reunion on Centre Court after registering fourth round wins on Monday.

Fourth seed Serena routed French wild card Severine Bremond 6-2, 6-2, while seventh-seeded Venus crushed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-1, 6-3 to book the rendezvous.

The sisters are 8-8 in head-to-head matches in their career, and 5-5 against each other on the Grand Slam stage so this one will bring bragging rights as well as a slot in the semifinals of the year’s last Major championship.

“It’s tough to play her because she is so good,” said Venus, who won their last clash at this summer’s Wimbledon final for her fifth singles title at the All England Club.

Serena rued the fact that the meeting between the two twice Open champions is coming so early in the championship.

“It sucks,” Serena said. “Even the semifinals would have been better than the quarters, but at least one of us will make it to the semifinals.”

Rafael Nadal was one step away from his first semifinal in here after taking his turn at shooting down one of the big-hitting young guns at the Open to ride into the quarterfinals.

The Spaniard, the top-seeded World No. 1 for the first time at a Major, dodged a bevy of bullets from 20-year-old American Sam Querrey, before capturing a 6-2, 5-7, 7-6(2), 6-3 win.

Nadal said he hoped he had gotten his “bad day” out of the way at the Open against Querrey, who blasted in 20 aces and belted 52 winners before succumbing to the Spaniard.

“When you are playing not your best, the important thing is to win. I did today.”

Nadal’s tally of unforced errors was unusually high at 41, and his six double faults outnumbered his five aces.

India’s Leander Paes, already through to the men’s doubles quarterfinals with Lukas Dlouhy, teamed up with Zimbabwean Cara Black in the mixed doubles competition.

The fifth-seeded duo defeated the Czech pair of Martin Damm and Vladimira Uhlirova 7-5, 6-2 to advance to the semifinals. Paes and Black will next take on the Swedish-Russian team of Jonas Bjorkman and Nadia Petrova.

There was a disappointment for India as fifth seeds Yuki Bhambri and his Serbian partner Filip Krajinovic lost 1-6, 6-4, 7-10 to Zimbabwe’s Takanyi Garanganga and Egyptian Karim-Mohamed Maamoun in the first round of the boys doubles competition. — Agencies

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