(CNN) -- Top three seeds Serena Williams, Jelena Jankovic and Elena Dementieva are through to the last four of the Paris Indoor tournament after getting past French oppenents in their quarterfinals on Friday.
Jelena Jankovic was taken to three sets again before securing her last four place in Paris Indoor event.
In-form Australian Open champion Williams saw off qualifier Emilie Loit 6-4 6-1, although the American was pushed much harder than in her previous two matches -- including having her serve broken for the first time this week in the opening set.
The 10-time Grand Slam-winner will now face third seed Elena Dementieva in Saturday's semifinals, after the Russian cruised past Nathalie Dechy in straight sets.
Wild card Dechy was beaten 6-3 6-2, with the effects of Thursday's three-set win over sixth seed Patty Schnyder of Switzerland appearing to affect her performance.
Meanwhile, second seed Jelena Jankovic was given another tough workout before securing her place in the last four.
The second-seeded Serb was taken to three sets by China's Li Na on Thursday -- and she had to dig deep again on Friday with victory over fifth seed Alize Cornet in a match lasting over two-ana-a-half hours.
Backed by a passionate home support, French No.1 Cornet took the opening set, but her more experienced opponent eventually clawed her way back into the match to go through 5-7 6-4 6-4.
However, the locals did have something to cheer in the final match of the day when eighth seed Amelie Mauresmo rolled back the years to crush fourth-seeded Pole Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2 6-0 and secure a clash with Jankovic.
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