Kim Clijsters blew a chance to take the world number one spot from Maria Sharapova this week after losing at the Filderstadt Grand Prix on Friday.
The second seed was beaten 6-3 3-6 6-2 by Elena Dementieva while defending champion Lindsay Davenport overcame another Russian, Anastasia Myskina, 6-2 3-6 6-1 to reach the last four.
Clijsters' defeat ended a 21-match winning streak stretching back to mid-August when she lost to China's Shuai Peng in San Diego. The Belgian had since won four consecutive titles in Toronto, Los Angeles, at the U.S. Open and Luxembourg.
Clijsters had been on course to regain the number one ranking she first earned in 2003 but had to beat Dementieva and Amelie Mauresmo to gain enough points.
Top seed Davenport meets Daniela Hantuchova in the semi-finals after the Slovak beat Italy's Flavia Pennetta 6-3 6-4. Dementieva tackles third-seeded Frenchwoman Mauresmo, who downed number six seed Nadia Petrova of Russia 2-6 6-2 6-4.
CLIJSTERS POUNDED
No player strikes the ball as hard as Dementieva and the fifth seed eventually pounded Clijsters into submission.
Her powerful groundstrokes and relentless ability to return the ball in the furiously-contested rallies eventually took their toll on the world number three.
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"She was very aggressive and mixing it up well. I don't think I played my best tennis but I think my body was not ready for today. I was getting tired and I think the rest I'm getting now is coming at the perfect time," added Clijsters.
Dementieva's ability to out-rally Clijsters meant even her vulnerable serve was not a liability despite 12 double faults.
Clijsters might have avoided defeat if she had not been broken for 2-1 in the final set after holding two game points.
Another break for 4-1, when Clijsters again netted a backhand, virtually settled the match although Dementieva double-faulted to drop her serve in the next game.
"This is the best match of my life. It's the kind of match I will always remember," said Dementieva. "I'm so excited the way I was playing the whole match and the way I was able to handle the very important moments.
"I did everything well. If you want to beat Kim you have to play 100 percent of your game. I was very aggressive, my serve finally was there, so I think my whole game was very solid.
"This match really gives me a lot of confidence for the future. I'm just a little worried that I'm going to be fresh enough for my semi-final..."
POSITIVE START
Davenport made a positive start in her quarter-final, breaking Myskina in the opening game when the 2004 French Open champion netted a backhand.
With the American's groundstrokes doing their usual damage and her big serve keeping the Russian under pressure, Davenport broke again with an overhead smash to lead 4-1 and surrendered just four points on serve in the entire set.
But Myskina kept up with the rallies once the second set got underway and broke to lead 3-1 on her fourth break point.
Davenport immediately broke back by forcing a backhand error from her return but Myskina took advantage of careless errors and broke again to lead 5-3 when the American double-faulted.
In the final set, Davenport reduced her errors and her aggressive groundstrokes again gave her the edge.
She built a 5-0 lead, failed to win a match point as Myskina finally held serve and then comfortably served out the match.
"It was definitely a match that went up and down in terms of level of play and concentration probably for both of us," said Davenport. "...I don't feel she played as well on the bigger points in the final set."
Hantuchova was the steadier player against Pennetta, who had earlier upset fourth seed Justine Henin-Hardenne.
Pennetta played well in the rallies to keep herself in the match and Hantuchova had to fight off three break points as she served for the opening set.
The second set was decided by one break, with Pennetta's fourth double fault giving Hantuchova a 5-4 lead. The Slovak then served out the match to love, finishing with her sixth ace.
Mauresmo made a poor start, dropping the first three games, but recovered to level in the second and was always ahead in the decider after breaking Petrova in the opening game.
