Dementieva through to Kuala Lumpur semis

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- No.1-seed Elena Dementieva breezed into the semifinals of the $220,000 Malaysian Open tennis tournament with a straight-set win Friday.

Dementieva recorded seven service breaks over eight games in a 6-0, 6-3 rout of seventh-seeded Magdalena Rybarikova. Dementieva won 66 percent of the points in the match, including 67 percent off Rybarikova's serve.

She next plays No. 6-seeded Sybille Bammer, against whom she owns a 3-1 advantage in career meetings. Bammer advanced to the semifinals with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 win over Kai-Chen Chang.

Fourth-seeded Alisa Kleybanova also needed to rally to win her quarterfinal, defeating Anastasia Rodionova 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 over 2 1/2 hours. Rodionova grabbed the advantage with two first-set breaks but Kleybanova dropped serve just once the rest of the way.

Ayumi Morita defeated Chanelle Scheepers 6-3, 7-5 in the fourth quarterfinal. She goes into the semifinals against Kleybanova, who has won both of their previous matches.

Saturday's winners advance to Sunday's title match with a first-prize check of $37,000 at stake.