Eugenie Bouchard, of Canada, watches her shot against Jelena Jankovic, of Serbia, during the Family Circle Cup tennis tournament in Charleston, S.C., Friday, April 4, 2014.MIC SMITH/The Associated Press
Montreal's Eugenie Bouchard won five of the last six games to upset Jelena Jankovic 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in the Family Circle Cup quarter-finals Friday.
The 20-year-old Canadian beat the second-seeded Jankovic to reach the semifinals at a WTA tour event for the second time this season and fifth in her career.
On Saturday, she plays ninth-seeded Lucie Safarova or 14th-seeded Andrea Petkovic as she seeks her first title — something Bouchard thinks she's more than ready for.
"Every time I go into a tournament now and every match, I always believe I can win," she said.
Even when she falls behind, as happened in her past two matches. Bouchard trailed in the third set against Venus Williams on Thursday and Jankovic this time before rallying to victories.
"I feel confidence in myself," she said.
Jankovic, a Serb once ranked No. 1, was the latest familiar name to be ousted before the weekend. The 2007 champion joined Serena and Venus Williams and past winners Sabine Lisicki and Sam Stosur.
Jankovic was the highest-ranked player left in the field at No. 8.
In two other quarter-finals Friday at the clay court event, third-seeded Sara Errani plays 17-year-old qualifier Belinda Bencic, and Jana Cepelova faces 12th-seeded Daniela Hantuchova.
Bouchard made it to the Australian Open semifinals this year, losing to eventual champion Li Na. In her only WTA final, she lost to Stosur in Osaka in October.
The sixth-seeded Bouchard trailed 2-1 in the final set. She then dug in to win the next three games and take control. Her steady, strong groundstrokes wore down Jankovic.
"It was the third set and your concentration goes down a little bit if you're getting tired," Jankovic said. "It was so close. It could have went either way, if I was a little bit tougher out there and played certain points a little smarter."
The two also met in the quarter-finals last year, and Jankovic won 6-2, 6-1. Bouchard was ranked No. 114 then, but she's 20th now.
"Well, I didn't want it to be Groundhog Day today, for sure," Bouchard said. "Same tournament, same round, same opponent."
Not the same result.