Sharapova quickly recovered from her lapse, helped when Dementieva missed returns on break points that would have evened the second set at 4-all.

Still, Sharapova’s serve and forehand were in much better shape than in the fourth round, when the Russian needed three sets to get past 16th-seeded Flavia Pennetta.

“I felt like that match wasn’t my best day at the office,” Sharapova said. “I was just looking forward to the next match to see how I could recoup, recover.”

She did just fine, thank you, with a 14-8 edge in winners, and even hitting a shot left-handed against Dementieva.

“What’s so special about her is that she’s a fighter,” said Dementieva, runner-up at the French Open and U.S. Open in 2004 and 4-0 in major quarterfinals before Tuesday. “It’s just amazing how focused she can be, and that she can stay and fight from the first point to the end.”

She wasn’t quite so complimentary when it came to Sharapova’s loud shrieking, which grows louder as matches get tighter.

“It’s a little bit too much,” Dementieva said. “My personal opinion: I think the umpire should calm her down a little bit.”

Asked what her response would be if asked to tone it down, Sharapova said simply: “I won’t change a thing.”

She’ll need to play at least as well against Mauresmo, who won both their previous encounters and is playing serve-and-volley tennis more than the other semifinalists.

Mauresmo reached her fourth Wimbledon semifinal by eliminating 2004 French Open champion Anastasia Myskina 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. The Frenchwoman never has reached the final at the All England Club.

“I don’t think I have anything to prove to myself, first of all, or to anybody,” said Mauresmo, who went to the net behind nearly half her serves, winning the point 72 percent of the time. “I just want more.”

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Henin-Hardenne has been to the championship match here, losing to Venus Williams in 2001. She’s since won each of the other major tournaments at least once, for a total of five titles, and her 6-4, 6-4 victory over French qualifier Severine Bremond put Henin-Hardenne closer to completing a career Grand Slam.

The Belgian hasn’t dropped a set so far; she hadn’t allowed an opponent to win more than three games in a set until the 179th-ranked Bremond did it.

“She’s wonderful on grass,” said Bremond, the first qualifier in the Wimbledon quarterfinals since 1999.

Clijsters was a 6-4, 7-5 winner against No. 27 Li Na, the first Chinese player to reach the quarterfinals at any of the four majors. Clijsters had her problems in the second set, when she double-faulted five times, trailed 5-2 and erased a set point.

Now she faces a far more familiar foe: Clijsters and Henin-Hardenne have played 19 times on tour (Clijsters leads 10-9), and six times at Slams (Henin-Hardenne leads 4-2) — but never at Wimbledon.

“We know each other well enough,” Henin-Hardenne said. “The best will win.”

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