Henin produced 43 winners against Jankovic

Belgium's Justine Henin booked her place in the semi-finals of the Stuttgart Grand Prix with a 3-6 7-6 6-3 win over Serbia's Jelena Jankovic.

Three-time French Open champion Henin extended her unbeaten run against her fourth-seeded opponent to 10 matches.

The 27-year-old Belgian will play Israel's Shahar Peer, who overcame world number three Dinara Safina 6-3 6-2, for a place in the final.

Samantha Stosur also booked a last-four place with a 6-3 6-3 win over Li Na.

Australian Stosur extended her unbeaten run on clay to 10 matches and will play either the Czech Republic's Lucie Safarova or Anna Lapushchenkova of Russia.

Henin continued her excellent form since returning to the WTA Tour in January following a 18-month hiatus.

And Jankovic believes the former world number one is close to returning to her best form.

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"She is playing the same, she is still one of the best on clay," said world number seven Jankovic.

"You have to hold your ground, as soon as you lose concentration she takes advantage, she has so much experience."

Henin made 44 unforced errors but produced 43 winners, while Jankovic could only manage 18, coupled with 23 unforced errors.

"She played very consistently in the first set and I was under a lot of pressure," reflected Henin.

"I kept fighting and I am really happy to get through."

Safina was playing her first tournament since retiring from the Australian Open in January with a back injury.

I felt a little sluggish on court but I knew I was better than my opponent Anne Keothavong

The Russian, who admitted she was struggling with her back during her win over Agnes Szavay on Thursday, made 27 unforced errors in her straight sets defeat at the hands of Peer.

Meanwhile, Anne Keothavong shrugged off an epic journey by road and air from Fes to Rome to reach the second round of qualifying for the BNL D'Internazionali d'Italia.

The Briton is competing in her second tournament of the week after featuring at the WTA Tour event in Fes.

Keothavong beat Italian wildcard Alice Moroni 6-3 6-1 to put herself within one win of a place in the main draw of the $2m event and will face Karolina Sprem in the next round.

"The last 24 hours have been non-stop and I was pretty tired by the time I got to the club here in Rome," she said.

"There was a four-hour car journey last night to Casablanca and then a three-and-a-half hour plane journey which ended up being delayed to Rome and then a mad car journey through Rome.

"I felt a little sluggish on court but I knew I was better than my opponent and I just had to knuckle down and get on with it."

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