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Russians Svetlana Kuznetsova and Dinara Safina both claimed comfortable straight-set wins to advance into the final of the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.

The fourth-seeded Safina won her first in six matches against Nadia Petrova and the score was more than impressive, 6-1 6-0. With the victory, in-form Safina moved into her seventh Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles final of the year.

Kuznetsova, the fifth seed, beat Slovenian qualifier Katarina Srebotnik 7-6(5) 6-2. Kuznetsova, who recently lead Russia to a win over Spain in the Fed Cup final, started slowly before taking the first set, but at 2-2 in the second, she won four straight games to win the match.

Safina will be bidding for her fourth title of 2008 (after Berlin, Los Angeles and Montreal), and Kuznetsova for her first. (photos: Getty Images)

Top seed Jelena Jankovic’s chance of reclaiming the number one ranking has been ruined as she was defeated by Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals of the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.

Third seed Elena Dementieva, Olympic gold medalist and the latest player to qualify for the prestigious season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, was upset by Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia.

Jankovic started well against the fifth-seeded Russian but eventually went down 2-6 7-5 7-5. Had she went all the way to the Tokyo title, Jankovic would have overtaken Serena Williams in the rankings.

Dementieva, the winner in Tokyo two years ago, failed to keep an early lead before going down to qualifier Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia 6-3 6-4. Srebotnik earned her fourth Top 10 win of the year.

Sixth seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland also lost in a day of upsets, falling to Russia's Nadia Petrova 6-3 6-0. Fourth seed Dinara Safina of Russia was the best-ranked player to remain after beating qualifier Kaia Kanepi of Estonia 6-4 6-7(5) 6-2.

Semifinal pairs: Kuznetsova vs Srebotnik, Safina vs Petrova. (photos: Getty Images)

Top seed Jelena Jankovic confidently advanced at the Toray Pan Pacific Open, while fellow Serb Ana Ivanovic, seeded second, lost the first match she played after her shocking defeat at the US Open.

Jelena Jankovic cruised past Italian Flavia Pennetta 6-2 6-1 to book her place in the Tokyo quarterfinals where she’ll face fifth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia who defeated Japan's Ayumi Morita 6-1 6-1.

Current number two in the world, Jankovic, has a chance to return to the top of the rankings if she wins the Toray Pan Pacific Open.

Ana Ivanovic was upset by Nadia Petrova 6-1 1-6 6-2. Not a great promotion of her new Yonex racquet.

In the first set Ivanovic’s serve was broken three times, while she herself earned no break points. The second set was the same story, only the players exchanged their roles. The world number 20 Petrova pressured unprepared Ivanovic in the decider and the Serb succumbed after an hour and 41 minutes.

The world number three will now fly to Beijing for next week's China Open. (photos: Getty Images)

Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova rallied to defeat former world number one Amelie Mauresmo of France 0-6 6-1 7-6 (8) in the first round of the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.

Despite taking the first set without losing a game, leading 4-1 in the tiebreaker, and having four match points, Mauresmo was defeated by the Slovakian teenager.

"It's always frustrating to lose a match when you have match points and can't close it out," said the Australian Open and Wimbledon champion Mauresmo. "I let her get back into the match in the second set and it's disappointing to lose like that."

As for the fallen seeded players in the first round, eighth seed Anna Chakvetadze was upset by Kaia Kanepi of Estonia 6-4 3-6 6-3, while Francesca Schiavone stunned seventh seed Daniela Hantuchova 6-1 7-5.

Top seed Jelena Jankovic has a bye into the second round, as well as fellow Serb Ana Ivanovic, who is number two seed. (photo: cibulkova-dominika.com)