Dementieva into last four

Top seed and defending champion Elena Dementieva cruised into the semi-finals of the Istanbul Cup with a straight-sets defeat of Jill Craybas on Thursday.

The Russian proved too strong for the seventh-seeded American, winning 6-1 6-4 to set up a semi-final against sixth seed Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan.

Amanmuradova held on for a 7-6 (7-0) 1-6 6-4 upset of third-seeded Russian Nadia Petrova.

On the other side of the draw, second seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland overcame a slow start to defeat Slovenia’s Andreja Klepac 4-6 6-2 7-5.

The world number 16, Radwanska will face eighth seed Tsvetana Pironkova in the other semi.

The Bulgarian outlasted fourth-seeded Olga Govortsova of Belarus 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-2).