Pennetta also beat Jankovic in their last meeting in Zurich in October

Flavia Pennetta dumped defending champion Jelena Jankovic out of the Stuttgart Grand Prix in the last eight.

Jankovic, seeded three, won the first set with ease but the unseeded Italian raised her game and hit 32 winners to beat the erratic Serb 2-6 6-4 6-4.

Pennetta will play top seed Dinara Safina after the Russian beat Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4 6-2.

Fifth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova meets Russian compatriot Elena Dementieva in the other semi-final.

Kuznetsova crushed Argentina's Gisela Dulko 6-3 6-2 in the last eight while Dementieva clinched a 6-2 4-6 6-3 win over Marion Bartoli.

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After racing through the first set, the number two seed Dementieva was pegged back by the French star, but an early break in the decider set up the win.

"It was my best match of the tournament so far," said the world number three.

Pennetta enjoyed her second straight win over Jankovic, having lost their first five meetings.

"I was nervous at the beginning but at the start of the second set I started pushing more and using my forehand more," said the Italian.

"I started to be more aggressive and to play more down the line, not cross-court. She got tired and she started to make more mistakes."

Jankovic has shown signs of improvement recently after a poor start to the year and went into the match with a 7-0 record on clay, having won the title in Marbella last time out.

"I am not losing my confidence because of this loss," she said.

"My game fell apart. In the second set, my level started going down. I let her play her game. I've been having a cold this week and I got tired."

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