Kournikova crumbles again

Anna Kournikova sacrificed a promising position

Home favourite Amelie Mauresmo staged a brave fightback to beat Anna Kournikova 2-6 7-6 6-1 on Friday and seal a place in the semifinals of the $565,000 Paris Open indoor tournament.

Kournikova, the second seed, led by a set and 3-0 before her French opponent finally got her service working to overpower the 19-year-old Russian.

Eighth seed Mauresmo now faces third-seeded defending champion Nathalie Tauziat, who brushed aside the challenge of seventh-seeded American Amy Frazier to win 6-0 6-2 in just 48 minutes.

Kournikova has now played in 87 WTA Tour events without managing to win one.

Maleeva has reached her second successive final

Ranked eighth in the world, she had been in fine form this year, reaching the last eight at the Australian Open and the semifinals last week in Tokyo.

Kournikova looked like breezing to victory but she lost her way after receiving courtside treatment for an abdominal strain she first suffered in Tokyo.

"She was really nervous at the beginning and made all the mistakes but I wasn't 100 percent and was surprised I was up so easily," Kournikova said.

The Russian said her injury got "worse and worse" as the match progressed, hampering her ability to serve.

Tauziat, who had to save three match points against compatriot Nathalie Dechy on Thursday, was a totally different player against Frazier.

I'm just happy that I'm through after five months out

  Anke Huber

"I wanted to get the match over as quickly as possible because I played three sets yesterday and needed to recuperate because I still had to play a doubles match," the 33-year-old Tauziat said.

"I tried everything I could to to make it short -- and I was able to play some of my best tennis."

Anke Huber advanced to the semi-finals with a 6-2 6-7 7-5 victory over Luxembourg's Anne Kremer.

Huber, showing fine form on her from a return from a wrist injury, will play a resurgent Magdalena Maleeva for a place in the final.

Kremer rally

The sixth seed prevailed after two hours and 12 minutes against Kremer, ranked 35th in the world who conquered Mary Pierce in the second round.

She fought back after Huber threw away a set lead and the chance to go 5-2 in the second.

The 26-year-old Huber appeared to lose her concentration allowing Kremer to rally to force a tie-break in the second and ensuring a third set.

She broke the 26-year-old Huber's serve in the opening game of the third set and was serving for the match when the German broke back and won four games in a row to secure her semi-final spot.

Her semi-final opponent Maleeva struggled past Meghann Shaughnessy 4-6 6-2 6-4 to reach the semi-finals.

The Bulgarian made the last four for the second successive week - she was in the sem-ifinals in Tokyo before losing against world number one Martina Hingis in three sets.