World number one Justine Hen-in brushed aside Czech tee-nager Nicole Vaidisova to reach the semifinals of the Eastbourne International grasscourt tournament on Thursday.

Henin, the defending cha-mp at the Wimbledon warm-up event, won 6-2, 6-2 in 55 minutes. Amelie Mauresmo, who will defend her Wimbledon title next week, recovered from a lapse of concentration to beat Israeli sixth seed Shahar Peer 6-3, 6-4.

In the semifinals, Mauresmo will play third seed Nadia Petrova, who overcame a back problem and leg cramps in the heat to beat Austrian ninth seed Sybille Bammer 6-7, 7-5, 6-4 in a match that lasted just under three hours.

French Open champion Henin, aiming to win Wimbledon to complete her collection of Grand Slam titles, will next play eighth seed Marion Bartoli of France, who thrashed Russian fou-rth seed Elena Dementieva 6-1, 6-0 in 71 minutes.

Robredo beaten
Top-seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo was sent packing from the Den Bosch Open in Rosmalen, beaten in straight sets by Peter Wessels of the Netherlands 6-3, 6-3 in the quarterfinals.

Number two seed Ivan Ljubicic had to recover from the loss of the second set to get past Serbian Janko Tipsarevic 6-3, 6-7 (8-10), 6-3. Joining Robredo and Ljubicic in the semis was Frenchman Julien Benneteau, who beat Michael Berrer of Germany 7-6 (7-2), 7-5.

Karlovic wins
Croatian Ivo Karlovic was the only player to reach the semifinals of the Nottingham Open with a 7-6, 7-5 victory over Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro after rain disrupted play on Thursday, adds Reuters from Nottingham. The other matches will be completed on Friday, leaving the players with the prospect of having to play twice.

Paes-Damm score
Leander Paes and his Czech partner Martin Da-mm defeated Danish-German pair of Kristian Pless and Benjamin Becker 6-4, 6-4 to enter the semifinal of the Ordina Open in the Netherlands, adds UNI.