KEY POINTS:
Jelena Jankovic is finding her range and zeroing in on the Auckland singles crown.
The top-seeded Serb produced her best form of the ASB Classic in beating two-time winner Eleni Daniilidou 6-3, 6-4 in 1h 23min.
She is two matches away from her second WTA singles title, to follow victory in Budapest three years ago. Judging on yesterday's effort, which was full of athleticism and accuracy in tricky conditions, it will take a big performance to stop her.
Jankovic issued a warning for her rivals in the rest of this week: "In my previous matches I didn't play as well as today. Today was a level up."
It could have been an awkward match for Jankovic, but she made sure there would be no slip-ups in what is shaping as an ideal leadup to the Australian Open, starting in Melbourne on January 15.
World No 36 Daniilidou battled gamely and often traded heavy groundstrokes with the 12-ranked Jankovic.
But when it really counted, the Florida-based Jankovic had the better game.
She broke Daniilidou in the sixth game to take the edge in the first set. The only time the tall Greek had an advantage - breaking Jankovic's serve in the first game of the second set - it was shortlived.
From 0-2 down, Jankovic stepped up a gear and zoomed out to 4-2. Moving swiftly around the court, she took out the match on her first match point.
The only slight worry was a niggling injury to her right foot, which improved after being strapped. Jankovic reckons the shoes are "not a great fit" and she's waiting for new, specially designed shoes in time for the Australian Open.
"I had to really concentrate and focus on my game," she said, adding that she was delighted to bag the win in straight sets. She's yet to be taken the distance in the tournament, and that suits her just fine.
"Who wants to play three sets?" she said.
She faces French player Camille Pin today and it'll be a surprise if that goes to three sets either.
American Jill Craybas deserves a gold medal for perseverance. The Californian from the surfing mecca of Huntington Beach 40 minutes south of Los Angeles, is on her ninth successive visit to Auckland, and yesterday clinched her first semifinal by beating Argentina's Paola Suarez 6-3, 7-6 (7-4).
The first set was straightforward but she had to scrap in the second as Suarez, scrambling effectively, fought back from 0-3 to lead 5-4, saving three match points in the ninth game.
But Craybas, ranked No 70, was tidy from the back of the court and ensures an American presence in the last four.
The state of US women's tennis is a far cry from days of old when names such as Chris Evert, Tracey Austin, and more recently Jennifer Capriati, Venus and Serena Williams and Lindsay Davenport, were dominant figures on the circuit.
Davenport is the top-ranked American at No 25 and Meghan Shaughnessy is No 37. It's a grim situation, but Craybas, whose sole WTA singles title was in Japan five years ago, reckons it's purely cyclical. Its time will come again, and in any case Craybas is relaxed about where young Americans get their inspiration from.
"The US is definitely working on inspiring young kids to get motivated to do well," said Craybas, 32 and with a degree in telecommunications behind her.
"I don't think it matters what country you come from. There's lots of good role models on the women's tour."
