Seventh-seeded Martina Hingis brushed aside fourth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova to advance into the semi-final round of the Rogers Cup before a sellout crowd at the 11,437-seat Uniprix Stadium in Montreal, Canada, 7-6(4), 6-3 . This is the third time that Hingis and Kuznetsova faced each other, with Hingis prevailing over Kuznetsova twice. With her win, Hingis is projected to enter the top ten when the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles rankings are released on Monday, at number ten.

In a tightly contested opening set, both players had three service breaks.  With Kuznetsova unleashing her powerful groundstrokes, Hingis then made use of her trademark drop shots and had to come to the net more often to neutralize Kuznetsova’s shots.  Hingis then broke Kuznetsova’s serve in the 12th game, leveling the score to 6-6, pushing the set to a tiebreaker, which Hingis handily won, 7-6(4).

Hingis took control of the second set, drawing first blood by breaking Kuznetsova’s serve in the opening game of the second set.  Often ending crosscourt rallies with pinpoint down the lines, Hingis left Kuznetsova scrambling. The Russian showed little resistance by breaking the Swiss only once in the second set.  Hingis then went on to win the second set, 6-4, and the match, 7-6(4), 6-4, in one hour and thirty-four minutes.

“I knew this was a top-10 match, so it feels great making it on my own. It was my secret goal to make it. I was hoping for it so I would get better seeding in the U.S. Open” Hingis said.

Hingis’ semi-final opponent will be 19-year-old Russian Anna Chakvetadze.