Jankovic sails through to Guangzhou semis

Beijing - Defending champion Jelena Jankovic of Serbia beat Germany's Sabine Lisicki in the quarter-finals of the WTA Guangzhou International Women's Open on Thursday, getting her a step closer to the $226 750 top prize.

Second seed and former world No 1 Jankovic beat 2013 Wimbledon finalist Lisicki 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 to advance to Friday's semi-finals, where she will face third seeded Croatian Ana Konjuh.

The tournament's two US players took a beating, with Konjuh knocking out American Jennifer Brady 6-4, 7-5 and Ukranian Lesia Tsurenko securing a win over fifth seed Alison Riske 3-6, 6-4, 6-0 in a match that lasted nearly two hours.

Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland, fresh off a surprise win 6-7 (7/9), 6-3, 6-4 against top seed Sara Errani that had shot her into the quarter-finals the night before, couldn't recreate the magic, losing 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 to Anett Kontaveit of Estonia, listed as 129th in the WTA singles rankings.