Russia's Olympic medalists join Jankovic in semis in Moscow

MOSCOW, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- Defending champion Elena Dementieva secured a hard-fought win over Nadia Petrova on Friday to advance to the semifinals of the Kremlin Cup. The Beijing Olympic gold medalist's opponent in the last four will be Jelena Jankovic, who was tested for a set-and-a-half of her quarterfinal against Flavia Pennetta before striding through to the penultimate stage of a tournament for the eleventh time this season. The other semifinal will be an all-Russian affair, with Dinara Safina taking on Vera Zvonareva after both subdued tricky rivals. Although Petrova moved ahead 4-3 with a break in the seventh game of the first set, No.3 seed Dementieva responded by taking three consecutive games to capture the opener. The Olympic gold medalist appeared to be cruising to victory as she established a 4-1 lead in the... [read full story]