Switzerland's Martina Hingis has booked her place in the semi-finals of the Kremlin Cup tennis tournament in Moscow. But Thursday's quarter-finals were far from a breeze for the world number one.

Drawn against the newcomer of the year, Russia's Elena Dementieva, Hingis ensured victory only after winning the third and final set 7-5.

As the match got underway the Swiss star appeared to be facing few difficulties. She romped through the first set, beating her teenage opponent 6-0, before taking a 2-0 lead in the second set.

Dementieva then fought back, taking the second set on a tie-break before winning three break points off Hingis with the score at 4-4 in the deciding set.

The St Gallen player displayed icy determination, however, in defending all three points successfully. Then as a second tie-break threatened to decide the match, Hingis broke Dementieva to wrap up her tenth win in a row.

As Hingis eyed up an encounter in the final four against either Lisa Raymond or Amélie Mauresmo, her compatriot Patty Schnyder was heading out of the tournament.

The Swiss number two was comfortably beaten by Austria's Barbara Schett, a player who seems to have become quite a jinx for Schnyder.

Despite being ranked one place below the Basel player, the Austrian has now beaten Schnyder in their last four games. Thursday's encounter never looked like bringing a reversal of fortunes with Schnyder going down in straight sets, 4-6, 3-6.

swissinfo with agencies

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