SYDNEY, Jan 10: World number three Amelie Mauresmo's Australian Open title defence took a hit when she was knocked out of the Sydney International warm-up tournament here on Wednesday.

The top seed crashed out to rising Serbian star Jelena Jankovic 7-5, 6-0 in the quarter-finals, cutting back on her court time ahead of the year's first Grand Slam which starts Monday.

Jankovic won her eighth straight match following her tournament win in New Zealand last weekend, overrunning the French player in hot conditions.

Jankovic, a semi-finalist at last year's US Open, followed up her victory over five-time Grand Slam champion Martina Hingis and Australian Samantha Stosur with a comprehensive performance.

Jankovic will play eighth-seeded Czech Nicole Vaidisova in Thursday's semis after Vaidisova overcame Serbian Ana Ivanovic 6-4, 6-2 in a night match.

Meanwhile, Kim Clijsters swept into the semi-finals after a quickfire victory over Israeli Shahar Peer.

The world number five took just 54 minutes to claim a 6-2, 6-1 victory over the 18th-ranked Peer to book a semi-final with China's Li Na on Thursday.

The 21st-ranked Li wore down Slovenia's Katarina Srebotnik in her quarter-final, winning 7-5, 6-1 in 77 minutes, serving at a high 77 percent.

The Belgian third seed claimed 23 winners in breaking Peer's service five times to romp to victory in sweltering conditions.

Results: