SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- Eighth-seeded Anna Kournikova outlasted big-hitting Alexandra Stevenson for a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 win today at the adidas International, setting up a semifinal against defending champion Lindsay Davenport.

Martina Hingis took the easy route into the semifinals with Amelie Mauresmo when Dominique Van Roost succumbed to a thigh injury and forfeited their quarterfinal match.

Hingis, who defeated Mauresmo in a controversial Australian Open final last year, held a 6-1 lead when Van Roost retired from the match.

In the last quarterfinal, Kournikova's experience was the difference as Stevenson compounded an inconsistent service game with dozens of unforced errors.

The Russian said Stevenson tried to hit the ball too hard, too often.

``She was hitting a lot of winners in the first set, but then I got my rhythm and she started going for too much,'' Kournikova said. ``She plays the game I used to play -- she'll learn for herself.''

Stevenson, who reached the Wimbledon semifinals as a qualifier last year, admitted she was outsmarted.

``I had it in my hands until she changed her game plan,'' said the American teen-ager, who was already hoping for a rematch at next week's Australian Open.

``I learned a lot ... I'm glad I got it out of the way before Melbourne. I'd love a rematch tomorrow.''

Mauresmo disposed of Mary Pierce 6-2, 6-3 in an all-French quarterfinal, while Davenport dropped a set before overcoming veteran Spaniard Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 6-4.

After losing a first-set tiebreaker, Davenport raced through the second set and then fought back from 15-40 at 5-4 in the third, closing out with a forehand down the line, followed by a booming serve.

``It's a really good match for me to play before Melbourne -- to hit a lot of balls, to have a long match, to have longer points,'' she said of her buildup for the Australian Open, which starts Monday.

``I think my game is coming around,'' she said. ``I'm happy that physically I feel fine after a pretty long match. I know whoever I play will not get as many balls back in as Arantxa, so hopefully my game just keeps getting better.''

The Hingis-Mauresmo match is their first in Australia since last January, when Hingis reportedly described Mauresmo as ``half a man.''

But both players said there is no ill feeling between them and the issue has been resolved.

Hingis, whose only court time in Sydney before today was against Belorussian qualifier Olga Barabanschikova, said Mauresmo was a dangerous player, but still had to prove herself in major competitions.

In men's quarterfinals, Australian Jason Stoltenberg overpowered second-seeded Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador 4-6, 7-5, 6-1, while big-serving Croat Ivan Ljubicic continued his giant-killing run, defeating No. 5 Karol Kucera 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.

Lleyton Hewitt had a 6-3, 6-4 win over Adrian Voinea of Romania. The 18-year-old Australian, who won the Australian hardcourt championship in Adelaide last week, faces Alex Corretja in the semis after the Spaniard came back from a set down to defeat Slava Dosedel of the Czech Republic 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.