Safina inspired by Sharapova victory

DINARA Safina revealed the memory of her epic victory against Maria Sharapova in the last 16 of the French Open was the catalyst for her follow-up triumph against Elena Dementieva yesterday.

Safina reached the final four of a grand slam for the first time with a hugely entertaining 4-6 7-6 (7/5) 6-0 win over fellow Russian Dementieva in a match that had eerie parallels with her victory over top seed Sharapova two days earlier.

The 22-year-old found herself a set and 5-2 down in both matches but each time managed to mount a stunning salvage operation to win in three sets and line up an all-Russian semi-final against Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Asked whether her fightback in the previous round had crossed her mind when trailing to Dementieva, Safina replied: "Of course. Once you went through this you always believe: why not a second time?

"The match is still not over. I felt like I had to hang in there just to do something more."

"Before, when I would play with top players, I would lose a set and for me it would be mentally and physically tough to come back," she said.

"Now, I physically feel that if I have to play two sets, for one hour each, I am able to do this. If you know that physically you can do this, then mentally it's also easier."

Seventh-seeded Dementieva, meanwhile, admitted her third-set capitulation came about due to her failure to close out the match earlier.

After taking the first set with ease, Dementieva bossed her way to a 5-2 lead in the second but became jittery as she tried to serve out the match.

First Safina broke for 5-3 and then, when Dementieva brought up break and match point in the next game, her opponent again turned the tables to hold.

Another break in the next game finally swung the psychological edge in favour of Safina, who won the eventual tie-breaker before cantering home in the decider.

"It was very hard to play in the third set after I had so many chances to finish the match," Dementieva revealed. "I was trying to get myself back into the game, but it was kind of a difficult situation."

After booking her place in the semis with a 7-5 6-2 win over unseeded Estonian Kaia Kanepi earlier in the day, fourth seed Kuznetsova admitted the prospect of becoming the world number one is not weighing on her mind.

The early exit of Sharapova from proceedings has paved the way for Kuznetsova, Ana Ivanovic or Jelena Jankovic to take over at the top of the pile when the new WTA rankings are announced on Monday.

Any one of the trio can guarantee themselves the top spot by winning Saturday's showpiece final, but Kuznetsova, the 2004 US Open champion, is adamant her focus is only on securing safe passage to the final.

"I try to take it [becoming number one] as a different thing, just a different bonus if I win," said the 22-year-old. "It's one more thing that would come.

"Definitely it would be nice and it would be one of my dreams come true, but also to win the French Open is also big."

Meanwhile, Gael Monfils delighted his home crowd at the French Open as he ousted Spain's David Ferrer to set up a semi-final showdown with world number one Roger Federer.

The unseeded Monfils, the junior champion at Roland Garros in 2004, continued his love affair with the tournament by posting an assured 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-1 victory in two hours and 27 minutes.

The world number 59 becomes the lowest-ranked player to reach the final four at Roland Garros since Andrei Medvedev in 1999, and the first Frenchman since Sebastien Grosjean in 2001.

Earlier, Federer booked his place in a grand slam semi-final for the 16th time in succession as he dispatched Fernando Gonzalez in four sets.

The world number one, seeking his maiden title at Roland Garros, made a sluggish start out on Suzanne Lenglen Court but rallied in time-honoured fashion to canter to a 2-6 6-2 6-3 6-4 win in just over two hours.