“I want to congratulate Alisa, she played really well today,” Dementieva said. “I know it is difficult to organize a tennis event such as this but I think the organizers have done a great job and I hope that this tournament will continue for many years. I am grateful for the warm welcome here in Malaysia and I thank all the fans for staying and supporting us today and through the week.”

Seeds: Elena Dementieva, Na Li, Jie Zheng, Alisa Kleybanova, Melinda Czink, Sybille Bammer, Maggie Rybarikova, Olga Govortsova

In the semis she will face a US Open rematch against Elena Demetieva, one of four Russians she beat at last year’s Open. On Friday Oudin outlasted Agnes Szavay 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, while Dementieva also endured a tough encounter against Andrea Petkovic 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.

“It’s just a little pain and the strapping usually helps the pain go away sometimes,” Serena said.

WATCH OUT FOR MY EXPLODING HEAD — Serena Williams on keeping the No. 1 ranking in 2010: “I don’t think about it a lot. I’ve got a lot on my plate. Everyone assumes that I’m No. 1 anyway.”

“I think we set the bar for pretty high for ourselves for the rest of the year but obviously it’s a great tournament to start off the year and a great match, so I couldn’t be happier with myself, but I would also like to congratulate Justine,” Clijsters told the crowd afterwards. “This is the first tournament that she’s back and she’s really played at a really high level.” Clijsters donated her $37,000 winner’s check to the Royal Brisbane Hospital children’s wing, which she visited before the tournament began.

“I think we set the bar for pretty high for ourselves for the rest of the year but obviously it’s a great tournament to start off the year and a great match, so I couldn’t be happier with myself, but I would also like to congratulate Justine,” Clijsters told the crowd afterwards. “This is the first tournament that she’s back and she’s really played at a really high level.”

The Brisbane International in Australia kicks off the 2010 WTA Tour in wild fashion, featuring the return of former world No. 1 Justine Henin, fellow Belgian comeback queen and former No. 1 Kim Clijsters as the top seed, in addition to seeds Nadia Petrova, former No. 1 Ana Ivanovic, Daniela Hantuchova, Alisa Kleybanova, Aleksandra Wozniak, Melinda Czink and Iveta Benesova.

BTW, according to the WTA, dumb-ass Qatari tennis authorities paid $42 million to stage the season-ending event for three years until it moves to Istanbul in 2011. Cha-ching WTA!

Jankovic, who had a stellar 2008 season, this year failed to compete for the top spot, blaming a too-hard training regiment in the off-season.