The reigning French Open champion needed just over an hour to defeat Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria, 7-5, 6-1 in Friday's evening's quarter-final match in Montreal.
No. 3 Myskina will face unseeded Russian Elena Likhovtseva in one semifinal, while second-seed Amelie Mauresmo takes on No. 10 Vera Zvonareva of Russia in the other.
"She's my best friend, so it will be really hard for us," Myskina said of Likhovtseva. "I just hope it's a good match."
Russia's Anastasia Myskina has advanced to the semifinals of the Rogers Cup. (CP Photo)
"She's really on top of her game this week. I watched her matches and I know I'll have to play 100 per cent because as soon as you give her a finger, she's going to take your whole hand."
The semifinals of the singles draw are Saturday (CBC, 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. EST), while the final is Sunday (CBC, 2 p.m. EST) where the winner will pocket $189,000.
Earlier in the day, Likhovtseva took advantage of a sub-par performance from Jennifer Capriati to advance to her first-ever semifinal at the Canadian tennis tournament.
Likhovtseva, making her seventh appearance at the Rogers Cup, played smart, efficient tennis en route to upsetting the fifth-seeded Capriati 6-2, 7-5.
Likhovtseva made easy work of an out-of-sorts Capriati in the first set, forcing the American to chase balls all over the baseline. The Kazakhstan-born Likhovtseva nearly allowed Capriati back in the match after dropping two straight games to bring Capriati to 5-5.
However, Likhovtseva quickly regained her composure, held service, then watched her American opponent make unforced errors on the final two points of the match.
"After that match, I couldn't really believe I won," admitted Likhovtseva. "It felt like a loss because I was up 5-3 and then lost the second set. Against Jennifer, I wasn't thinking about what would happen if I won, so I just enjoyed it. It feels great."
"She played exceptionally well – the best I've seen her play in a while," conceded Capriati, a former world No. 1. "I hadn't played many matches coming into this tournament."
Mauresmo became the first player through to the semifinals, fighting back from one set down to defeat upstart Croatian Karolina Sprem 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.
Mauresmo was challenged for the second straight day and for the second straight day the Frenchwoman pulled through with a three-set victory.
"She played really well in the first set," said Mauresmo of Sprem. "But when you hit the ball with the intensity that she does and put 100 per cent into every shot, you can't put every ball in, otherwise you're No. 1 in the world.
Mauresmo found herself in trouble early against Sprem, who controlled the first set with strong serves – some which reached 190 km/h – and powerful ground strokes.
Sprem, best known for knocking off Venus Williams at this year's Wimbledon, has soared up the world rankings over the past two years. Ranked 12th at this tournament, Sprem went to No. 19 in the world this year from No. 273 in 2002.
Mauresmo, winner of the 2002 Rogers Cup, fell behind one service game in the second set, but after Sprem struggled with her serving, Mauresmo refocused and dominated the play from the baseline.
The most crucial point of the match arguably came in the third set tied 3-3. Sprem doubled-faulted twice, which gave Mauresmo a lead she would not give up.
Zvonareva had little trouble in defeating Tatiana Golovin of France, 6-3, 6-1.
"She's a great player and she's a lot more experienced," said Golovin. "I'm only starting to play against the top players, so it's hard for me to get out there and believe that I'm going to win.
In quarter-final doubles play, Maureen Drake of Toronto and Lindsay Lee-Waters of the U.S. lost to the top-seeded team of Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain and Paola Suarez of Argentina, 6-2, 6-3.
with files from CP Online
