Henin to face Ivanovic in Sydney

SYDNEY, Australia -- World number one Justine Henin set up a mouthwatering semifinal clash with Serbia's Ana Ivanovic with a straight sets victory over Estonia' s Kaia Kanepi in Sydney.

Henin, who is hot favorite to add an eighth grand slam title when the Australian Open starts next week, took less than an hour to dispatch Kanepi 6-2 6-0.

"It's been a strange start in the tournament for me, winning my first match not playing." Henin said. "So I'm happy with the way I played today."

Fourth seed Ivanovic was given a more rigorous test by Katarina Srebotnik before prevailing 6-3 3-6 6-2 against a determined Slovenian opponent who kept her on court for nearly two hours.

In the other half of the draw, former U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia also reached the semifinals and will face Czech Nicole Vaidisova who won the evening match against world number three Jelena Jankovic.

Vaidisova won 6-4 4-6 6-4 in the remaining quarterfinal.

Second seed Kuznetsova of Russia had earlier made short work of Francesca Schiavone of Italy in winning 6-4 6-0.

The WTA event in Hobart saw an upset on Wednesday as Italy's Flavia Pennetta beat Indian sixth seed Sania Mirza 7-5 1-6 6-3 in the quarterfinals.

Mirza had been one of only two seeds remaining in the main draw at the start of the tournament's third day but, by the end, second-ranked Vera Zvonareva was left alone among seeded players.

Pennetta converted five of eight break points and overcame a mid-match slump on her way to a gritty win over Mirza.

"It was not a very good match for people to watch," Pennetta said. "There were a lot of mistakes from both players."

Zvonareva beat Elena Vesnina 6-3 6-3, keeping up the strong form she has shown throughout the tournament. E-mail to a friend