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(Sports Network) - French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova was an easy quarterfinal winner, while Olympic gold medalist Elena Dementieva went by way of the upset Friday at the $4.5 million China Open.
Twelfth-seeded Pole Agnieszka Radwanska toppled the fourth-seeded Dementieva 7-5, 6-3 on Day 7 at the Olympic Green Tennis Center. The capable Radwanska pulled off the upset in 1 hour, 44 minutes with the help of a whopping six service breaks.
Dementieva's loss left this lucrative tournament without any of its' top-five seeds heading into the final weekend.
The two-time major runner-up Dementieva captured Olympic gold at this same tennis complex 14 months ago.
A sixth-seeded Kuznetsova, meanwhile, avoided an upset by leveling promising fellow Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-3, 6-3, setting up a semifinal against another compatriot, No. 13 seed Nadia Petrova.
Kuznetsova was last year's China Open runner-up to Jelena Jankovic, titled here in 2006 and was also the runner-up here in 2004. The two-time major champion has never lost before the final at this Chinese event.
Petrova fought from behind to get past giant-killer Peng Shuai, of China, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-2. Peng shocked the former world No. 1 and defending Beijing champion Jankovic in the second round and former top-ranked star and last week's Tokyo titlist Maria Sharapova in the third round here.
Saturday's other semifinal will pit Radwanska against 14th-seeded Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli. The 2007 Wimbledon runner-up Bartoli came back to upend seventh-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva 3-6, 7-5, 6-2.
The 2009 Beijing champion will collect $775,500.
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