Dementieva, Clijsters Into Semifinals at Indian Wells

No. 4 seed Elena Dementieva and unseeded former No. 1 Kim Clijsters both posted three-set wins Wednesday at the WTA stop in Indian Wells to move into the semifinals.

In an all-Russian repeat of last year's US Open final, Dementieva turned the table over No. 5 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, coming from a set down for a 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory.

"I was trying to put my first serve in and to serve at her backhand," said Dementieva, attempting to add more "oomph" to her flagging serve.

In the end it was Kuznetsova's serve that let her down, with the reigning US Open champ fighting off four match points but then double faulting on the fifth.

"On the fifth match point I was thinking I have to do something different with this return and be really aggressive," Dementieva said. "I didn't expect her to double fault. She played unbelievable to get those four match points back."

Lamenting her opportunities with characteristic directness, Kuznetsova said the match should have never went three sets.

"I was playing unbelievable tennis in the US Open, but today was different," Kuznetsova said. "I should have won in two sets."

Clijsters, the 2003 Indian Wells winner, improved her career record against Conchita Martinez to 4-1 with a 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 win. Ranked No. 133 after a return from wrist surgery, the Belgian will need to focus her concentration for her semifinal meeting with Dementieva.

"I felt like I was hitting the ball in the first and third set, not at all in the second set," Clijsters said. "It's just a matter of having that stability, you know, making sure that I can keep it up and don't lose concentration, I guess."

On tap for Thursday in IW are two quarterfinals in (1) Davenport vs. (7) Dechy, and a battle of former slam champs in (3) Sharapova vs. (20) Pierce.