BAD GASTEIN, Austria - Two more surprises Friday at the upset-filled Nϋrnberger Gastein Ladies means only one seed remains in the draw, but it's the top one, Alizé Cornet.

The 19-year-old Frenchwoman has lost a set in all three of her matches this week, but once again managed to move on, this time over Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, 64 26 62. She is now 3-0 lifetime against the Czech and will play in her first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles semifinal of 2009 on Saturday, having dropped her previous two quarterfinal matches this year, in Sydney and Paris [Indoors].

"I'm playing better and better, so it's good timing for tomorrow," Cornet said. "It was a tough match today. She was playing very well in the second set and I fought on every point just like yesterday. I'm really happy. It's been a long time since I won three matches in a row."

Standing in Cornet's way will be an opponent she has never faced on Tour before, Romanian Ioana Raluca Olaru. A round after knocking off No.3 seed Sybille Bammer, the 20-year-old continued her impressive run here with a 64 64 victory over No.6 seed Magdalena Rybarikova, her first win in three career clashes with the Slovakian. Like Cornet, Olaru is also having her best tournament of 2009, as she lost both her previous quarterfinal matches in Bogotá and Warsaw.

"We played against each other a lot of times when we were juniors, and she always beat me, so I hope to get my revenge tomorrow," Cornet said of Olaru. "I'm in the semis now and have nothing to lose."

On the bottom half of the draw, Andrea Petkovic also upended a seed for the second straight round. She got past seventh-seeded Anna-Lena Groenefeld, 67(6) 63 61, in her first career Tour quarterfinal a day after eliminating No.4 seed Iveta Benesova. Petkovic, who was also victorious in doubles with partner Tatjana Malek to advance to Sunday's final, is now 2-0 all-time against fellow German Groenefeld.

Next up for the 21-year-old Petkovic is Yaroslava Shvedova, who advanced to her first Tour semifinal of 2009 with a 62 63 defeat of wildcard and 2007 Bad Gastein runner-up Yvonne Meusburger. Shvedova is now 2-0 lifetime against the Austrian, who was playing in her home country. Petkovic and Shvedova have a fairly extensive history against one another, with Petkovic winning four of their five meetings, including all three that were contested on clay.