French teenager Tatiana Golovin sent second seed Elena Dementieva tumbling out of the Paris Open with a clear-cut 6-4, 6-4 win in the quarter-finals on Friday.
Golovin, ranked 135th in the world but who showed her potential by reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open last month, thrilled the home crowd by taking a 4-0 lead in the first set.
The Moscow-born player, who celebrated her 16th birthday in January, won in one hour and 27 minutes. It was her first appearance in the quarter-finals of a WTA tournament.
She will next meet compatriot Mary Pierce, who overpowered Russian Elena Bovina 6-3, 6-4.
"I'll be very pleased to face Tatiana because she reminds me of what I was at her age," said the 29-year-old Pierce, the winner of the Paris Open in 1998 and of the French Open in 2000.
Top seed Kim Clijsters, meanwhile, battled her way into the last four with a gritty 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory over Silvia Farina Elia.
The 20th-ranked Italian led 6-3, 5-2 before the Belgian world number two found her rhythm, clawing her way back to win the second set, breaking serve at 3-3 in the decider and sealing victory on her first match point.
"I knew it was going to be a hard game, particularly because I lacked match practice," said Clijsters, playing her first tournament since losing to Justine Henin-Hardenne in the Australian Open final.
"I made too many mistakes in the first set because I was trying to win the points too quickly. At 2-5, I decided to concentrate on keeping the ball inside the lines."
Clijsters will face Russian qualifier Dinara Safina in the semi-finals. The younger sister of former world number one Marat Safin ousted Italian fifth seed Francesca Schiavone 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.
