Paris, February 10:

Defending champion Amelie Mauresmo and top-seeded Justine Henin were made to sweat in winning their Open Gaz de France quarter-finals on Friday.

Mauresmo took two hours to subdue eighth-seeded Anna Chakvetadze of Russia 7-6 (5), 7-5, while Henin was forced to go the distance by unseeded Tatiana Golovin of France before winning 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.

It was the second straight battle for Mauresmo, who has been to the indoor final five times in Paris and won twice.

Second-seeded Mauresmo will meet another Russian in semi-finals, No 4-seeded Nadia Petrova, who won their last match in the 2006-ending WTA Tour Championships. Petrova dispatched countrywoman and 2005 champ Dinara Safina 6-3, 6-2.

Henin was beaten from the baseline by Golovin in the second set but the Belgian rushed the net in the last set to prevail. She’ll face unseeded Lucie Safarova after the Czech upset Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 6-4.

Pattaya Open

BANGKOK: Austria’s Sybille Bammer upset China’s Peng Shuai 6-4, 6-2 on Saturday to earn a final berth against Argentine Gisela Dulko at the Pattaya Women’s Open.

Sixth-seeded Dulko used her consistent groundstrokes to unsettle India’s Sania Mirza and take a 6-4, 7-5 win.