May 12, 2007 2 min read

BERLIN (AP) – Julia Vakulenko overcame a left foot injury Friday to beat two top-10 players – including No. 2 seed Amelie Mauresmo – and reach the semifinals of the German Open. The 53rd-ranked Ukrainian, down a set when her match with Mauresmo was suspended Thursday because of numerous rain delays, returned Friday to win 11 of 13 games and complete a 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory over the third-ranked Frenchwoman to advance to the quarterfinals.

A few hours later, taking painkillers for her swollen foot, she beat No. 8 seed and 10th-ranked Dinara Safina 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.

“Maybe the pain helped me concentrate,” Vakulenko said. “I’m very happy, but I think at my best I can win against anybody.”

Vakulenko, who will be playing in only her second career semifinal and first in more than three years, next faces No. 12 Ana Ivanovic, who eliminated 15th-seeded Patty Schnyder, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4.

Third-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova – a 7-6 (5), 6-4 winner against Nadia Petrova – will play the winner between top-seeded Justine Henin and No. 5 Jelena Jankovic.

Jankovic led the quarterfinal 6-3, 4-4 before darkness suspended play. It was the day’s second match for Henin, who routed Maria Elena Camerin of Italy 6-1, 6-3 in another third-round match delayed a day due to the weather.

The German Open was Mauresmo’s first event since an appendectomy in March.

“What can you do? What can you say? Just keep practicing,” Mauresmo said. “I need the rhythm of more matches, competition. I was a step slow all day.”

Mauresmo won Wimbledon and the Australian Open last year.