SEOUL, South Korea - After so many of them fell in the second round, the three seeds who made it to the quarterfinals all held their ground, as Nadia Petrova, Alisa Kleybanova and Agnes Szavay all made the semis.

Petrova, the No.1 seed, was the first to advance, routing Kirsten Flipkens in 61 minutes, 62 61. Petrova never lost her serve and broke Flipkens five times.

Kleybanova, the No.5 seed, took just a little longer - 68 minutes - to win her match against Ekaterina Makarova, 61 62. Kleybanova also broke serve five times for the victory over her good friend and frequent doubles partner.

"I've played Ekaterina many times. We've known each other since the juniors," Kleybanova said. "She definitely wasn't playing her best, so it was quite an easy win for me. But I know she's a great player. I'm just happy I won."

Check out pics of Nadia and more in the player party gallery!

Szavay, seeded No.8, had the toughest match of the three, relieving Kimiko Date Krumm of her Hansol Korea Open crown with a 62 67(3) 63 victory in two hours and 42 minutes. Date Krumm had won her last eight matches at the event, five to go all the way to the title last year and two wins earlier this week (including a 62 61 stunner over No.2 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova).

In the last match of the day, Dinara Safina's trouble with Klara Zakopalova continued, as she fell to the tricky Czech player in straight sets for the third time in their three career meetings. From 0-4, Safina won five games in a row to lead 5-4 and even held a set point, but Zakopalova regained control of the match and eventually smoothed out a 75 63 win over the former world No.1.