Seles into semis after thriller

Hingis will face Silvia Farina Elia in the semis

Click here for the quarter-final results

Third seed Monica Seles moved into the semi-finals of the Pan Pacific Open after defeating fellow American Alexandra Stevenson in the match of the tournament so far.

Seles won 7-6, 7-6 at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium after saving three set points in the first set and eight in the second.

Big-serving Stevenson powered in 17 aces but was let down by nine double faults in a hard-hitting baseline duel.

Amazingly, there were no breaks of serve, with both players squandering 15 break points between them.

"It was tough to get a rhythm because she was serving unbelievably. I was just trying to hang in there and got a little bit lucky," said Seles.

"I screwed up. I am unhappy with the result because I have been working hard to be seeded in time for the French Open," said the 20-year-old Stevenson.

Maybe I thought I could walk through the match, but she was better than I expected

Martina Hingis

Seles' semi-final opponent will be wild-card entry Anna Kournikova, whose world ranking has slipped to 99 after being sidelined for eight months with a foot injury.

The Russian barely broke sweat against Luxembourg's Anne Kremer before running out a comfortable 6-4 6-2 winner.

Top seed Martina Hingis is also through to the semi-finals but she had to fend off a spirited fight from quarter-final opponent Tamarine Tanasugarn to get there.

Hingis lost her serve twice in the first six games but from 3-3 she stepped up a gear for a convincing 6-3 6-2 victory over the Thai number one.

In her semi-final, on Saturday, Hingis will meet Silvia Farina Elia of Italy who defeated fourth seed Sandrine Testud of France 6-4 6-3.

"In the beginning, she (Tanasugarn) wasn't missing much, she made me run, so I think it was a very good first few games until 3-3. I just didn't serve that well," said Hingis.

"But when I really needed it, when I had to play better on the crucial points, I was able to lift the level. That was the key.

Seles saved eight set points in the second set

"She was better than I expected, she ran really well, she ran down a lot of balls.

"So I just had to work for it today, maybe serving better helped.

"At 3-3 I knew I needed to do something because I was all over the place mentally. That was the turn-around point.

"Maybe I thought I could walk through the match, but she was better than I expected. I really had to work for the points."

Tanasugarn has failed to take a set off Hingis in their three meetings, but the 24-year-old is now certain to exceed her previous highest ranking of 24th when the new rankings are announced next week.

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Pan Pacific Open results (quarter-finals):

Martina Hingis (Swi, seeded 1) bt Tamarine Tanasugarn (Tha) 6-3, 6-2
Silvia Farina Elia (Ita) bt Sandrine Testud (Fra, seeded 4) 6-4, 6-3
Monica Seles (USA, seeded 3) bt Alexandra Stevenson (USA) 7-6 (11/9), 7-6 (11/9)
Anna Kournikova (Rus) bt Anne Kremer (Lux) 6-4, 6-2

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