As Michel Kratochvil looked back on his quarter-final exit in Gstaad, Patty Schnyder was going one better in Vienna, the Swiss women's number two (WTA 33) reaching the semi-finals of the Austrian WTA event with a straight sets win over Anke Huber.

Schnyder began Friday's match against the German world number 20 in furious fashion, winning three early games in succession to take the first set 6-3. In the second set she broke Huber to 5-4 before clinching victory on her next service game with her fourth ace of the match.

The 6-3, 6-4 win guaranteed the Basel player her 13th appearance in a WTA semi-final, and her first since Brisbane in January. Her opponent in the last four will be Croatian qualifier Jelena Kostanic (WTA 169) who on Friday overcame Israel's Anna Smashnova 6-4, 6-2.

Schnyder seems to enjoy playing in Austria. The Vienna tournament has this year replaced the WTA event in Klagenfurt, at which the Swiss number two reached the final 12 months ago. She was finally defeated by home favourite Barbara Schett.

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