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.

“I have to improve my game if I want to go through to the final,” Dementieva said. “I want to attack more. I want to be more aggressive on the court. You can’t play defensive if you want to be number one.”

“I’m happy about winning in two sets. Every day I’m moving better. I’m feeling my shots a lot better. That’s the most important thing,” Jankovic said.

Dementieva, who has won 11 matches in a row and 16 of her past 18, also hungers to raise her game despite reaching the French Open quarter-finals and Wimbledon semi-finals and taking Beijing gold.