NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) _ Svetlana Kuznetsova took advantage of fellow Russian Elena Dementieva's nine double faults and reached the Pilot Pen semifinal by winning 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 Thursday in a rematch of the 2004 U.S. Open final.

``Everybody knows that her serve is not the best thing in her game,'' said Kuznetsova, who won that Grand Slam championship. ``But still, she's improving the serve, and sometimes she can serve to the backhand. Still, she's not confident. You can see, she makes lots of double faults.''

The match turned in the fourth game of the third set, when Dementieva had two double faults and screamed in frustration after sending a forehand wide at break point. The third-seeded Dementieva double-faulted five times in the third set alone.

``It was very difficult to come back, because she was serving very well and she was keeping her serve,'' Dementieva said. ``I was fighting, I was staying there. But, you know, it was very difficult to come back when you just lost your chances in the beginning of the set. She didn't give me any chances afterwards.''

It was third consecutive three-set match for Kuznetsova.

``I feel fit,'' she said. ``But this is also a problem, you know, because I could have finished in two (sets) and then save energy and go home.''

Her semifinal opponent will be second-seeded Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belgium, who eliminated Mara Santangelo of Italy 6-2, 6-3.

Also in the semifinal is Austria's Samantha Stosur, who lost in qualifying but moved into the main draw when Shahar Peer of Israel withdrew with a foot injury. Stosur beat Marion Bartoli of France 7-6 (2), 6-0.

``I've been playing well the last few weeks _ wanted to keep that going this week,'' Stosur said. ``That's what I've managed to do. I've played a lot of matches, which is exactly what you want going into a Grand Slam.''

The U.S. Open begins Monday.

Stosur will play defending champion Lindsay Davenport of the U.S., or top-seeded Amelie Mauresmo of France, who met later Thursday in the last quarter-final.

In the men's quarter-final, Sweden's Robin Soderling beat Austria's Jurgen Melzer 6-3, 6-2, and Agustin Calleri of Argentina defeated Nicolas Massu of Chile 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
© The Canadian Press, 2007