(Recasts after quarter-finals)
* Three big names seek first title of 2012
* Kvitova to face Wozniacki in semi-finals
* Radwanska's hopes of topping rankings end in defeat
MONTREAL, Aug 11 (Reuters) - A former world number one and
two grand slam champions enjoyed routine quarter-final victories
on Saturday as they remained on course to claim a belated maiden
title of 2012 at a rain-hit Montreal Cup.
Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki, last year's French Open
champion Li Na and 2011 Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova ended a
marathon day of tennis by easing into the semi-finals of the $2
million tournament in convincing fashion.
They were joined by 16th seeded Czech Lucie Safarova, who
will face Li in the first semi-final on Sunday, before Wozniacki
and Kvitova face each other for the first time since last
November's WTA Championships.
Kvitova won that clash in straight sets on the way to
claiming her most recent title and will be hoping to repeat the
feat to advance to Monday's final in Montreal.
Wozniacki had the most difficult passage of the last four
survivors, on a day that saw several of the top seeds forced to
play twice given the limited play possible on both Thursday and
Friday due to rain.
The 22-year-old former number one, whose last title was in
New Haven almost a year ago, first needed two-and-a-half hours
to defeat American Varvara Lepchenko 4-6 6-3 6-4 in a third
round match.
She returned to centre court after a four-hour break to see
off a stubborn Aleksandra Wozniak 6-4 6-4 after her Canadian
opponent saved five match points.
"It was tough today. Two tough matches, two long matches,"
Wozniacki told reporters.
“"(Kvitova) has been playing great this week. She is a great
player and it is not going to be easy. I am just looking forward
to getting a good night's sleep and hopefully I will be
refreshed tomorrow."
Li, who has lost finals in Sydney and Rome this year, was
the first to reach the semi-finals.
After toppling Sara Errani of Italy earlier on Saturday, she
ended Pole Agnieszka Radwanska's hopes of reaching number one in
the rankings for the first time with a confident 6-2 6-1 romp.
"I think today I played unbelievably well for both matches,"
Li said.
While Radwanska cruised past South African Chanelle
Scheepers in a last-16 match completed earlier on Saturday, she
found the Chinese number one far too good as she crashed out of
a tournament she needed to win to claim top spot.
The 23-year-old world number three said she felt sapped of
energy when forced to play two matches in a day.
“"The first match cost me a lot of power. It was very hot
conditions out there," Radwanska said. “
"But anyway, of course, she had the same situation. She was
just playing too good. Li Na was just playing unbelievable
tennis today."
Both Roberta Vinci and Tamira Paszek also struggled in their
second matches of the day.
Vinci, who posted a 6-2 7-6 upset win over sixth seed
Angelique Kerber in the third round, was later crushed 6-2 6-2
by Safarova in just 58 minutes.
Paszek, who thrashed Carla Suarez Navarro 6-3 6-2 in their
third round encounter, proved no match for Kvitova when falling
6-3 6-2 in the other quarter-final.
(Editing by John O'Brien)