Jelena Jankovic, whose career has been sliding backwards for the past 12 months will clash with Samantha Stosur, whose career has turned dramatically upwards in the semifinals of the 2010 BNP Paribas Open. The winner of the upper bracket will move on to face the winner of the lower bracket match between 5th seeded Aggie Radwanska and number two seed Caroline Wozniacki in the finals.

Jankovic withstood a late second set charge from Russian Alisa Kleybanova to claim her second semifinal berth at Indian Wells. After dropping the first set, Kleybanova seemed to take charge of the second set by converting her sixth break point opportunity to mount a 4-2 lead.

This match appeared on course for many of Jankovic’s recent reversals. She is known to slow play or request medical assistance when the tide begins to turn. The one-time heroine of Serbia maintained her focus against Kleybanova and garnered two breaks to close out the match 6-4, 6-4.

It will be the ninth seeded Jankovic’s first semifinal appearance of the year after losing before the quarters in all her events this season. Last season, the veteran launched Melanie Oudin’s rise to stardom by being upset by the 17-year old at Wimbledon.

Jankovic reached the semifinals at Indian Wells two years ago, only to fall to fellow Serb Ana Ivanovic, who has since slid from the top ten and may well slide below the top 20.

One player who is not on the slide is Australian Samantha Stosur. Looking as fit as ever, the lean, mean serving machine defeated a game 28th seed Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 6-3, 7-6 (7) on Thursday. Stosur’s high kicking serve is now regarded as among the most consistent and lethal weapons on the women’s tour.

Regardless of her semifinal outcome, Stosur will break into the top ten after Indian Wells. She will be the first Australian to reach the promised land since Alicia Molik in 2005.

Stosur has appeared in five previous BNP Paribas Opens but has never emerged from the third round. This year, she has won convincingly and has yet to lose a set in the dessert. Along her path to the semis, Stosur knocked out defending champion Vera Zvonareva. Her quarterfinal win ended when an upset Martinez Sanchez faulted after an overturned line call. Previously she had fought off three match points.

The eighth seeded Stosur will have to defeat Jankovic for the first time in her career to advance to the finals. The last two times they played, Jankovic won in straight sets. However, this is a very different Stosur and a very different Jankovic. Stosur has worked hard on her conditioning and especially her upper body strength. She looks ready to advance.

In the other semifinal, 5th seeded 21 Aggie Radwanska will challenge 19-year old Caroline Wozniacki. The two have split their previous meetings. This one is a tossup between two rising beauties, but Radwanska has been especially sharp this week.

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