Jankovic in ASB Classic semifinals

Auckland:

Top-seeded Jelena Jankovic beat two-time champion Eleni Daniilidou of Greece 6-2, 6-4 on Thursday to reach the semifinals of the ASB Women's Tennis Classic. Serbia's Jankovic, ranked 12th in the world, stuck to the baseline but had too much power for Daniilidou, who suffered from a series of controversial line calls. "Today was a great match, so many great points and Eleni played so good," Jankovic said. "There were some close calls which could have gone either way and I'm happy today that they went my way." Jankovic posted her third successive straight sets win to remain a firm favorite to win the Auckland title for the first time. She will face Frenchwoman Camille Pin in Friday's semifinals after Pin beat her higher-ranked countrywoman Emilie Loit 6-3, 6-3 in 69 minutes to reach her third career final four. "It was two sets but it was still a tough match," Pin said. "I knew it was going to be hard because we played at the U.S. Open and it was a three-hour match." Jill Craybas, 32, of the United States, beat Paola Suarez, 30, of Argentina 6-3, 7-6 (4), in a match between tour veterans and Auckland tournament regulars. Craybas led 6-3, 3-0 before losing her rhythm and conceding four straight games in the second set. She quickly regained her composure, forced the match into a tiebreaker and won on her first match point. "Paola is always a tough competitor and we've always had tough matches so I knew it wouldn't be easy," Craybas said. "At the end it got a bit close but I was able to pull it through. "She got me out of my rhythm during the second set but I was able to bring it back and get the win." Craybas' semifinal opponent will be fifth-seeded Vera Zvonareva of Russia, who was leading Virginie Razzano 7-5, 2-0 when the French qualifier was forced to retire with an undisclosed injury.