Defending champion on hold, giant-killer upbeat at German Open

BERLIN, May 9 (Xinhua) -- German Open defending champion Ana Ivanovic from Serbia was still "on hold" as her quarter-final match was postponed on Saturday, while Russia's Dinara Safina was turning into a kind of "giant-killer", smashing U.S. star Serena Williams 2-1 on Friday.

The match between Ana Ivanovic - the only player left of the four top seeds who could make it into the semifinals - and Hungary's Agnes Szavay had to be postponed (3-6, 6-4) as the dusk settled in. The match will be resumed on Saturday morning.

One day after the surprise victory over world number one Justine Henin of Belgium, the 22-year-old ousted Williams in three sets 2-6, 6-1, 7-6, whose winning-streak of 17 victories on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour thus ended on Friday.

"I've had a really bad day today", admitted Serena Williams after her defeat.

"But it would have been even worse playing at my best and then losing. Right away, I could name 50 things I could have done better."

Dinara Safina, however, was not only happy about the SMS of her brother and former world number one Marat Safin ("hold on, sister") but about "one of the best matches" in her career on red clay.

In the semi-finals, 13th-seed Dinara Safina will face unseeded Victoria Azarenko of Belarus. The 19-year-old defeated Russia's Alona Bondarenko of the Ukraine in two sets 7-6, 6-2.

"I'm proud of myself," said Azarenko.

Also on Friday, Russia's Elena Dementieva, seventh-seeded player in Berlin, ousted Serbia's Jelena Jankovic (fourth-seed) in three sets.