The prospect of a dream Los Angeles Open final between top seed Maria Sharapova and twice champion Serena Williams evaporated when both players were upset in the semi-finals.
A fatigued Sharapova, chasing a second successive WTA Tour title, lost 7-5 6-2 to fellow Russian Elena Dementieva while Williams, playing her third event of the year because of a knee injury, was beaten 6-4 6-3 by Serbian Jelena Jankovic yesterday.
Tenth-seeded Jankovic, who beat Williams when the pair met for the second time in Dubai last year, broke her opponent in the 10th game of the first set to take early control.
Refusing to be intimidated by the power of Williams, the Serb controlled most of the rallies from the baseline and broke the American's serve in the fourth game of the second set to pave the way for victory.
Williams, making a series of uncharacteristic unforced errors, was never able to get back into the match and Jankovic held serve to book her place in Sunday's final.
In the first semi-final, the 19-year-old Sharapova lost a pulsating opening set in just over an hour after battling back from 1-5 down.
Third-seeded Dementieva, using superb groundstrokes from the baseline, then took advantage of a series of unforced errors by her opponent to sweep through the second set.
It was her second victory over Sharapova in seven career meetings and ended a run of eight wins in a row by the world number four.
TOUGH PLAYER
''I feel really great,'' an elated Dementieva told reporters.
''I have lost to her twice this year and I was really looking forward to this match because she is such a tough player.
''This win really means a lot to me.
''When you play against Maria, she is a great fighter and never gives up. That makes it difficult to play against her.'' Asked whether she had been affected by the sapping heat at the Home Depot Center, the 24-year-old from Moscow replied: ''It was tough to play but when you are on the court you are so focused you just want to win no matter what.'' Sharapova, who had not dropped a set in her run of eight wins, felt she had paid the price for playing nine matches in 13 days.
''I haven't played this much in a while,'' she said after an erratic display of tennis featuring 46 unforced errors and eight double-faults.
''A year ago, I would probably haven't been able to play solid tennis for nine matches as I've been doing.
''I just felt a little flat today. I put two points together and would deflate for the next four. But I guess that's normal after playing so many matches in a row.
''But she made me work for it,'' added Sharapova, who was broken seven times by Dementieva and was forced to save six match points.
''She played really well defensively.''