Second seed Jelena Jankovic cruised into the semi-finals of the US Open with a 6-1, 6-4 win over 29th seed Sybille Bammer, where she will meet in-form Russian Elena Dementieva.

Playing in her first quarter-finals at a Grand Slam, the Austrian Bammer struggled to make headway against a rock-solid Jankovic who controlled the match from the start.

After battling through in earlier rounds, Jankovic was a model of consistency, registering only 14 unforced errors, and never looked in serious danger against Bammer.

“I would love to make another step forward and reach my first Grand Slam final,” Jankovic said. “I’ll try my best and hopefully I can do it.”

Jankovic owns a 4-3 career edge on Dementieva as each approaches her fifth career Slam semi-final on Friday. Jankovic has yet to win one but has earned her Russian rival’s respect.

“Against someone like her, she is going to play everything back,” Dementieva said. “You can’t play on the baseline. You really have to go on the court and create something. That’s what I would like to do.”

Jankovic’s victory ensured someone will replace Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic atop the WTA rankings. Jankovic could retake the top spot she had for a week in August. “It would be nice to regain the number one ranking but my goal is to win a Grand Slam. I would love to do something special here.”

Four-way fight

Dementieva, Safina and Serena Williams also could be number one on Monday. Dementieva makes a fourth Flushing Meadows semi-final trip after losses in 2000 and 2005 and a 2004 final appearance, which she lost to Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova. She also lost her only other Slam final at the 2004 French Open.

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