Second seed Elena Dementieva and third seed Jelena Jankovic advanced to the quarterfinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart.

Dementieva played Agnes Szavay in the second round and despite being 4-1 behind in the first set, the Russian battled back to win the set in the tiebreak. Dementieva then cruised through the second set, but needed five match points to seal victory.

"I am still finding my feet on clay court. It is my first tournament of the year (on clay) and my footwork needs to improve," said Dementieva, who will next face Marion Bartoli, the winner over Caroline Wozniacki in the second round.

Defending champion Jelena Jankovic overcame Germany’s promising player Sabine Lisicki, who won Family Circle Cup this month, and beat 20th-ranked Patty Schnyder in the previous round in Stuttgart. The world No.42 Lisicki took Jankovic to three sets, but the Serb won 7-5 5-7 6-3 after two hours and 13 minutes of play.

Jankovic will encounter Flavia Pennetta or sixth seed Nadia Petrova in the quarterfinals. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Danish teenager Caroline Wozniacki added fourth seed Elena Dementieva to the list of top players who exited the tournament too early, which already includes Dinara Safina, Vera Zvonareva, Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic.

While the four women lost in the third round or earlier, Dementieva was a bit better,  falling to the WTA Tour's newcomer of the year 2008 7-5 6-4 in the fourth round.

The 18-year-old Dane, ranked 12th in the world, came back from a break down in both sets to reach her sixth quarterfinal of the season.

Wozniacki’s next opponent will be world No.8 Svetlana Kuznetsova, who comfortably won her match against fellow Russian Alisa Kleybanova 6-2 6-1. (source: Reuters, photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Jelena Jankovic’s bad results are becoming worrying. We know she’s struggling to bring her form back, but this latest second-round loss at the BNP Paribas Open is only deepening the despair.

The second-seeded Jankovic was upset by young Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4 6-4. The 17-year-old Pavlyuchenkova, ranked 42th in the world, scored her first Top 10 victory.

"Last year I finished No.1 in the world and I was playing great tennis, especially at the end of the year. This year I'm not the same player," Jankovic said. "I'm struggling to find my game and the confidence on the court. She played well. Obviously she was the better player. But I'm not at my level."

Third seed Elena Dementieva was also stunned, but her loss is much less worrying than Jankovic’s. Dementieva has won two WTA titles this year and overall has been amazing in 2009, so we can understand her tiredness.

Dementieva was erratic and hit 14 double faults before falling to qualifier Petra Cetkovska 7-6(2) 2-6 6-1 in the second round of Indian Wells.

"That was probably my worst match in a long time," Dementieva said. "Every time you lose you're trying to learn something. I feel I shouldn't have come here because I played a lot of matches at the beginning of the year, and I probably needed more time off to recover."

Ana Ivanovic didn’t suffer the same faith as Jankovic and Dementieva. After losing the first three games of the match, the fifth seed won 12 of the next 16 games and beat Belarusian qualifier Anastasiya Yakimova, 6-4 6-3. (source: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Amelie Mauresmo only had one win over a Top 10 ranked opponent in 2007 and 2008, but today she beat one of the most successful players this season Elena Dementieva 7-6(7) 2-6 6-4 and scored her fourth Top 10 victory in 2009.

Mauresmo, who advanced to the finals by defeating world No.10 Agnieszka Radwanska in the quarterfinals and world No.3 Jelena Jankovic in the semifinals, clinched her third title at Paris, having already won the tournament in 2001 and 2006.

"I have had hard times. I did some soul searching by the end of last year and there is a new dynamic, a good preparation during the winter," said eight-seeded Mauresmo.

Falling to the Frenchwoman, third-seeded Dementieva failed to score her 500th career win. (photo via Open GDF SUEZ)

Amelie Mauresmo defeated Jelena Jankovic 6-2 0-6 6-1 in the semifinals of the Open GDF SUEZ. The other semifinal wasn’t played, as world No.1 Serena Williams pulled out of her encounter with Elena Dementieva.

Mauresmo handily won the first set 6-2, but Jankovic stormed back by winning seven games in a row to take the second set and lead 1-0 in the third. Jankovic, who is yet to impress with her game this year, lost all the following games and is now trailing Mauresmo 6-1 in head-to-head meetings.

Mauresmo’s next opponent will be Elena Dementieva, who was granted a walkover into Sunday's championship match as top seed Serena Williams pulled out with a right knee injury.

Williams on her injury:

I wasn't moving at all in practice, so there was really no chance for me to play today. I think I hurt it towards the end of my quarterfinal match. I guess I didn't have enough time to recover.

Still, the American is optimistic about her recovery:

I've just been playing a lot of tennis, so maybe this is a sign I'll need to take a day or two off and get ready for the next event, which is in two days. I'm going to make the effort to play there and do my best, and we'll just see what happens.

Mauresmo vs. Dementieva head-to-head record is very interesting. They have played 14 times so far, and Mauresmo leads 8-6. It goes into Dementieva’s favor that she has won their last two meetings in straight sets. However, their only meeting at the Paris tournament, which was in 2003, was won by Mauresmo 6-0 6-0. It was the only double bagel loss of Dementieva's career. (source: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, photos: Ralf Reinecke)

Fourth seed Elena Dementieva is on fire and not only because of the scorching heat troubling players in Melbourne. The Russian has remained undefeated this season seeing off Spanish world No.46 Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2 6-2 to move into the Australian Open semifinals.

Dementieva was too dominant in the first four games with Suarez Navarro winning only two points. The Spaniard then improved her performance, and the sixth game featured as much as 11 deuces, but Dementieva managed to hold her serve, and soon she took the first set 6-2.

Dementieva won the second set with the same score, closing out the victory on her first match point. Suarez Navarro, who upset Venus Williams in the second round, converted none of her ten break points during the quarterfinal against Dementieva.

By reaching her second career Grand Slam quarterfinal, Suarez Navarro is projected to vault the into the Top 30 for the first time in her career. The world No.4 Dementieva could become top-ranked player in the world if she wins the 2009 Australian Open singles title or if she reaches the finals but Dinara Safina does not also reach the finals.

Dementieva’s next opponent will be either Svetlana Kuznetsova or three-time Australian Open champion Serena Williams. The other semifinal is set; it will feature Vera Zvonareva and Dinara Safina. Notice, we’re having three Russians in the semis. (photo: Getty Images)

Four WTA players have a chance of being ranked No.1 after the 2009 Australian Open.

Current No.1 and top seed at the Australian Open, Jelena Jankovic, is defending 900 points, having reached the semifinals last year. World No.2 Serena Williams reached the quarterfinals in 2008, and is hence defending 500 points. Dinara Safina, currently ranked third in the world, is defending only 4 points this year, as last year she lost in the first round. And finally, world No.4 Elena Dementieva is defending 280 points, having lost in the fourth round last year.

The winner of the 2009 Australian Open will receive 2000 points. The top four ranking positions are very close and here are some ranking projections:

• If Jelena Jankovic wins, she will remain No.1 regardless.

• If Dinara Safina wins, she will become No.1, regardless.

• If Serena Williams wins, she will become No.1 IF… she does not play Jankovic in the finals.

• If Elena Dementieva wins, she will become No.1 IF … she does not play Jankovic in the finals.

Moreover, with Jankovic winning her first round match at the Australian Open, Safina would need to reach AT LEAST the semifinals, while Serena Williams and Dementieva would need to reach the finals in order to have a chance to become the No.1 in the world. (photos: Ralf Reinecke)

One of the biggest favorites for the Australian Open crown, fourth seed Elena Dementieva, didn’t advance into the second round of the tournament unchallenged. The Russian’s first-round opponent was world No.88 Kristina Barrois of Germany.

Barrois was leading 5-2 in the first set and even had a set point. Dementieva came back, winning four consecutive games for a 6-5 lead and her own serve followed. She was broken in the 12th game, but eventually won the set in a tiebreak.

In the second set Dementieva was trailing 5-2 again, but this time she surrendered and Barrois won the set. Still, the world No.4 cruised through the deciding set and won the first career meeting with Barrois 7-6(4) 2-6 6-1.

Dementieva remained undefeated in 2009, and has already won two WTA singles titles this year, in Auckland and in Sydney.

Other notable results so far on the second day of the Australian Open: No.9 seed Agnieszka Radwanska was upset by Kateryna Bondarenko 7-6(7) 4-6 6-1. Seed No.13 Victoria Azarenka advanced to the second round with a 6-2 6-1 win over Petra Kvitova, while No.28 seed Francesca Schiavone lost to Shuai Peng 7-6(4) 6-1. (photo: Getty Images)

It is only January and Elena Dementieva has already won two WTA singles titles in 2009.

After winning in Auckland, beating Elena Vesnina in an all-Russian final, Dementieva reached one more final right away, and won that one too, beating another compatriot, Dinara Safina, 6-3 2-6 6-1.

The world No.4 Dementieva will head into next week's Australian Open riding on a wave of 10 straight wins. The Beijing Olympics gold medalist Dementieva has now won 13 career WTA singles titles, but there are still no Grand Slam trophies in her biography.

Dementieva and Safina are now tied at 5-5 in career meetings, with Dementieva having won all those played on hardcourts.

Oh her way to the title the third-seeded Dementieva defeated Ekaterina Makarova, Jarmila Gajdosova, sixth seed Agnieszka Radwanska, top seed Serena Williams, and finally second seed Dinara Safina. (photo via Sydney International)

Olympic gold medalist Elena Dementieva scored her ninth successive win, beating top seed Serena Williams in the semifinals of the Medibank International Sydney. In the final, the in-form Russian will meet another Russian, Dinara Safina, who advanced with a victory over Ai Sugiyama.

Safina, the second seed, was the first of the two to advance to the final, seeing off the Japanese veteran 6-4 7-6(3). This first semifinal was more competitive than the following one, as Safina won a tight opening set and had to come back from a break down in the second set to make it past Sugiyama.

The third-seeded Dementieva, who has already won one title in 2009, beat Williams 6-3 6-1 in just 68 minutes. After losing their first four encounters in straight sets, Dementieva has now won three in a row.  Just a small addition, remember that Williams had saved multiple match points in two of her matches earlier in the week.

Dementieva and Safina have played nine times so far, with Safina leading the series 5-4. However, all five of her wins have come on clay or grass, while all four of Dementieva's have come on hardcourt, the surface of the Medibank International Sydney. (source and photo: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)