Scotland's Elena Baltacha has pulled off the finest win of her career so far by securing her place in the semi-final of the Powder Byrne Trophy in Surbiton.

The 17-year-old racked up an impressive 6-4 6-3 win over third seed Jennifer Hopkins of America.

Baltacha, world number 359, had already beaten two players ranked almost 250 places above her and performed even better to overcome the world number 68.

She faces world number 41 and top seed Kristina Brandi in the last four after the American beat Australia's Alicia Molik 7-6 6-3.

Crucial break

A delighted Baltacha said: "It feels brilliant. I came here just with the goal to give 100% in every match, I was not expecting to beat three brilliant players.

"I played well in patches of the match, and I served really well which got me out of jail a couple of times."

Baltacha got off to a bad start by losing her opening service game on a double fault, but she broke back quickly in the fourth game.

The teenager showed maturity beyond her years to save five break points on her way to the opening set.

The first seven games of the second set went with serve with Baltacha thumping down a number of aces, three in one game demonstrating the power that makes her such an exciting prospect.

The crucial break came in the eighth game as an excellent lob from Baltacha and a double fault from Hopkins gave the Scot two break points, the second of which she converted for a 5-3 lead before serving out for a well-deserved 6-4 6-3 victory.

The win came shortly after Anna Kournikova pulled out of Saturday's exhibition match with Baltacha at Surbiton.

Injury jinx

The world number nine was forced to withdraw from the match - part of her preparation for Wimbledon - and the DFS Classic in Birmingham next week.

Kournikova, celebrating her 20th birthday on Thursday, suffered a stress fracture in her left foot in March.

It led to her withdrawal from several tournaments, including the French Open.

The Russian, a Wimbledon semi-finalist in 1997, is scheduled to play in Eastbourne the week before Wimbledon and will be hoping her injury jinx has not struck again.

In 1998 at Eastbourne she suffered torn ligaments in her right thumb while beating Steffi Graf in the quarter-finals and was forced to withdraw from the semi-final and Wimbledon.

And somewhat ominously she suffered a stress fracture in her right foot in August 1999 and was off the tour for nearly three months.

There was some consolation for the organisers however with the news that Greg Rusedski will play an exhibition match on Saturday.

The British number two will take on three-time Wimbledon finalist Goran Ivanisevic.

Cedric Pioline of France, the 1997 Wimbledon runner-up, will also play in an exhibition game on Sunday against an as yet unnamed opponent.