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Ivanovic to clash with Jankovic

Nadal, Djokovic set up showdown; Bhupathi-Zheng pair advances

— Photo: AFP

CELEBRATING IN STYLE: Ana Ivanovic eased past Patty Schnyder in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.

Paris: Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic set up an all-Serbian semifinal showdown at the French Open as both scored comfortable straight sets wins on Tuesday.

Second seeded Ivanovic, 20, moved within one match of her third Grand Slam final by defeating Swiss veteran Patty Schnyder 6-3, 6-2 in her quarterfinal match.

Third seed Jankovic, 23, then powered past Spanish qualifier Carla Suarez Navarro 6-3, 6-2 to reach her fourth Grand Slam semifinal.

The pair have met six times with Ivanovic winning five of them but it will be their first meeting in a Grand Slam tournament.

“We have played many times before, and we always have tough matches,” Ivanovic said of her compatriot.

“It’s going to be an interesting match and at least we have one Serbian for sure in the final.”

Birthday gift

Meanwhile, triple defending champion and second seed Rafael Nadal coasted into the men’s semifinals with a 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 thrashing of fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro.

He will play third seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia to clinch a fourth consecutive appearance in the final.

It was the Mallorcan muscleman’s 26th straight win at Roland Garros since he made his debut in 2005 and came on the day of his 22nd birthday.

It sounded an ominous warning to first Djokovic and then top seed Roger Federer who is expected to play him in Sunday’s final for the third time in a row.

Djokovic reached his fifth consecutive Grand Slam semifinal when he ended childhood friend Ernests Gulbis’s fairytale French Open run. Third seeded Djokovic, a semifinalist here last year, saw off Gulbis 7-5, 7-6(3), 7-5.

Svetlana Kuznetsova advanced to the quarterfinals for the third year in a row by completing a victory over Victoria Azarenka, 6-2, 6-3.

Kuznetsova’s opponent on Wednesday will be Kaia Kanepi, who became the first Estonian to reach the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam tournament by beating Petra Kvitova 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. Kanepi and Kuznetsova won matches suspended on Monday because of darkness.

Superb show

Kanepi, ranked 49th, began the tournament with a lifetime Grand Slam record of 5-8.

She beat two seeded players — No. 6 Anna Chakvetadze and No. 29 Anabel Medina Garrigues — en route to the final eight.

“I have been believing in myself that I can play top players for a long time,” said Kanepi, 22. “I was hoping for a breakthrough someday.”

Kanepi said her latest victory would be big news in Estonia, and she expected plenty of messages from family and friends.

Mahesh Bhupathi and his Chinese partner Jie Zheng moved into the semifinals of the mixed doubles event with a facile 6-2, 6-4 win over Rogier Wassen (The Netherlands) and Virginie Razzano (France). Bhupathi and Zheng were hardly troubled by the Dutch-French duo and romped home in just 52 minutes. — Agencies

THE RESULTS

Prefix denotes seeding

Men: Quarterfinals: 3-Novak Djokovic (Srb) bt Ernests Gulbis (Lat) 7-5, 7-6(3), 7-5; 2-Rafael Nadal (Esp) bt Nicolas Almagro (Esp) 6-1, 6-1, 6-1.

Fourth round: 5-David Ferrer bt 21-Radek Stepanek 4-6, 6-2, 1-6, 6-3, 6-3; Gael Monfils bt 28-Ivan Ljubicic 7-6(1), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Women: Quarterfinals: 2-Ana Ivanovic (Srb) bt 10-Patty Schnyder (Sui) 6-3, 6-2; 3-Jelena Jankovic (Srb) bt Carla Suarez Navarro (Esp) 6-3, 6-2.

Fourth round: 4-Svetlana Kuznetsova bt Victoria Azarenka (Blr) 6-2, 6-3; Kaia Kanepi (Est) bt Petra Kvitova (Cze) 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.

Mixed doubles: Quarterfinals: Jie Zheng (Chn) / Mahesh Bhupathi (Ind) bt Virginie Razzano (Fra) / Rogier Wassen ((Ned) 6-2, 6-4.

Junior Doubles: Boys: Second round: Julien Obry & Adrien Puget (Fra) bt 7-Yuki Bhambri (Ind) & Ilija Vucic (Srb) 6-3, 6-3.

Girls: First round: Chloe Babet & Charlotte Rodier (Fra) bt Aleksandra Kolesnichenko (Uzb) & Poojashree Venkatesh (Ind) 6-2, 7-5.

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