Henin will play Jelena Jankovic, who made the semifinals when defending champion Nadia Petrova retired in the second set because of a hip injury.The third-seeded Serb trailed 6-7 (5), 5-1 when Petrova retired.

Kuznetsova, the 2004 U.S. Open champion and this year's runner-up, will play Tatiana Golovin, who beat qualifier Kateryna Bondarenko 6-3, 6-4. Golovin lost last year's Porsche GP final to Petrova.

Kuznetsova served better and made fewer errors in beating Williams, who was playing in the tournament for the first time since 1999. Three straight backhand errors by Williams allowed Kuznetsova to win the last game, with the American hitting the last shot wide.

"I made so many errors, my balls were just flying and there was no wind," Williams said. "There were hardly any rallies. It was hard to get any rhythm because I was making so many errors. I was just spraying balls all over."

Henin, playing her first tournament since winning the U.S. Open, led 5-0 in the first set before her game suddenly collapsed. She dropped her serve while serving for the set at 5-1, and Dementieva pulled to 5-4.

But the Russian helped hand Henin a set point by putting a meek approach volley into the net, with Henin stranded behind the baseline in one corner. Dementieva then double-faulted to give Henin the set.

The Belgian dropped her serve to start the second but recovered by winning the next three games.

Again, Henin could not close out, dropping serve at 5-3. And again, Dementieva failed to take advantage.

An error by Dementieva gave Henin match point and she hit a big forehand winner to take it.

"She is a great fighter and I experienced that today," said Henin, who leads the tour this year with seven titles, including Grand Slam wins at the U.S. Open and French Open.

Henin is 7-0 against Jankovic, including a semifinal victory at the French Open.

"Do you have to remind me?" Jankovic said, joking, when asked about the record. "I will go after her, I have nothing to lose. It would be nice to start my own streak."

Petrova received treatment on the court after the third game of the second set. Despite winning the first set, the seventh-seeded Russian had trouble chasing Jankovic's deep shots to the corner.

"It's frustrating to walk away like this, but it was very painful. I couldn't push myself," said Petrova, who aggravated an injury she sustained at the U.S. Open.

Jankovic, seeking her fifth title of the year, double-faulted to fall behind 4-2 in the first set before tying at 4-4.

Petrova led 5-2 in the tiebreaker, and lost two points on serve before Jankovic hit a backhand long. Jankovic saved the first set point, but Petrova hit a service winner.