Schiavone takes tight win over Jankovic

BRISBANE, Australia, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- Francesca Schiavone fought off a pair of match points before taking a quarterfinals win Thursday at the Brisbane International tennis tournament in Australia.

Schiavone, the No. 3 seed, edged by sixth-seeded Jelena Jankovic 5-7, 7-6 (7-2), 6-3 in a match that lasted just short of three hours. Schiavone dropped the first set and trailed 1-4 in the second before coming back.

Jankovic had two chances to win when she led 15-40 at 5-6 of the second set but Schiavone held serve and took the tiebreaker. She had two service breaks in each set but only lost her serve once in the final set.

Kaia Kanepi ousted second-seeded Andrea Petkovic 6-1, 7-6 (9-7) by pounding out 12 aces and winning nearly two-thirds of the points on serve. It was the second consecutive match in which Kanepi beat a seeded player.

No. 5-seeded Kim Clijsters sailed through her quarterfinal, beating Iveta Benesova 6-3, 6-2. Clijsters had five double faults and no aces but still won 66 percent of the points on serve.

Clijsters is to face Daniela Hantuchova, who had a quarterfinal walkover when Serena Williams withdrew with an ankle injury, in Friday's semifinals. Clijsters is 9-0 in her career versus Hantuchova.

Schiavone is 4-2 versus Kanepi. They split two matches last year.