PALO ALTO (California), July 26: Second seed Kim Clijsters overcame a shaky start to blast her way past Swiss teenager Marie-Gaianeh Mikaelian 4-6 6-0 6-1 in the quarterfinals of the Bank of the West Classic on Friday.

However, fifth seed Jelena Dokic continued her season-long slump when she was upset by Venezuela’s Maria Vento-Kabchi 6-4 6-3.

The 19-year-old Mikaelian, who had upset sixth seed Meghann Shaughnessy in the second round, came out firing against the Belgian, taking control of the centre of the court with her huge forehand and razor-sharp two-handed backhand.

Occasionally a slow starter, Clijsters had trouble keeping her big groundstrokes in check and lost the first set when Mikaelian forced her into a forehand errors.

Clijsters regained her composure and quickly jumped on Mikaelian in the second set, breaking her to 2-0 with a bludgeoning forehand winner and running off the next four games and the set.

In their third set, the 2003 French Open finalist broke Mikaelian to 3-1 when she stabbed a backhand over the net for a winner.

A dejected Mikaelian couldn’t pick her game up after that and Clijsters broke her to 5-1 when she crushed a backhand at her feet and then held to win the match with a 95-mph service winner.

Clijsters, who won the title here in 2001, faces the winner of the Francesca Schiavone-Amy Frazier match in her semi-final.

In reaching her first WTA Tier II semifinal, the 29-year-old Vento-Kabchi played a consistent game, effectively moving Dokic around the court and drawing her into numerous errors.

Dokic, who reached a career high ranking of number four last October, is 16-18 on the year and has only reached one semifinal in 2003.

The 20-year-old said she simply doesn’t have enough confidence to win matches.

Vento-Kabchi next faces the winner of the Jennifer Capriati-Lisa Raymond match being played later on Friday.

Quarterfinal results: Jennifer Capriati bt Lisa Raymond 6-1 6-7 (5-7) 6-4; Francesa Schiavone bt Amy Frazier 7-6 (7-5) 6-3; Kim Clijsters bt Marie-Gaianeh Mikaelian 4-6 6-0 6-1; Maria Vento-Kabchi bt Jelena Dokic 6-4 6-3.—Reuters