Russians Dinara Safina, Elena Dementieva and Vera Zvonareva will compete on Thursday in the Australian Open semifinals.
Joining the 2008 Beijing Olympic medalists in the semifinal round is three-time Australian Open champion Serena Williams.
Vera Zvonareva was the first to reach the final four on Tuesday by racing past Marion Bartoli in straight sets 6-3, 6-0. Bartoli had previously beaten outgoing world number one Jelena Jankovic in the fourth round, but could not stop the Beijing bronze medalist from reaching her first major semifinal.
Another woman who stood atop the Olympic medal podium last year also reached the semifinals Tuesday. Dinara Safina, the silver medalist, ended Jelena Dokic’s remarkable comeback run in the night session 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.
Not willing to be outdone by her countrywomen, Beijing gold medalist Elena Dementieva stormed into the semifinals on Wednesday. Dementieva beat Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro in straight sets 6-2, 6-2 to reach her third consecutive Grand Slam semifinal.
Serena Williams recovered from a shaky start to book an appearance in the semifinals against Dementieva. Williams lost the opening set of her quarterfinal match against Svetlana Kuznetsova 5-7, only to recover and win the deciding sets 7-5, 6-1.
Three of the four semifinalists, Williams, Safina and Dementieva, have an opportunity to end the Australian Open as the No. 1 player in the world.
