AUCKLAND - THE Russian Olympic champion and top seed had little trouble in winning 6-3, 6-1, but Peer refused to use the noisy protest by about 20 people outside the tennis centre as an excuse.

The 21-year-old said she had been unaffected by the protest, which ended during the early stages of the match, although Dementieva said the situation in Israel must have affected Peer.

'I'm sure it was a tough day for her because of the situation in her country,' Dementieva said.

'I'm sure it was not easy to play for her. I just know she can play better tennis next week.'

The protesters wanted Peer to withdraw from the tournament and speak out against the Israeli attack of Gaza in which 700 Palestinians have died, but she told reporters she had nothing to say on the issue.

'I'm not the government of Israel and I'm not representing Israel as a politician,' she said.

The fifth-seeded world number 39 went into a 3-2 lead in the first set but then crumbled against Dementieva and lost the next nine games.

Dementieva will face the unseeded Frenchwoman Aravane Rezai, last year's runner-up, in one of Friday's semifinals.

Rezai also had a comfortable passage through to the semi-finals, beating Edina Gallovits of Romania 6-3, 6-2.

Gallovits struggled with her serve in windy conditions, missing more than half her first serves and hitting nine double faults.

Briton Anne Keothavong will be the freshest semi-finalist. She won her first set 6-0 against Japanese qualifier Ayumi Morita, before her opponent retired with a hamstring injury.

In the semi-finals, the world number 60 will play the winner of the last quarter-final between Russian Elena Vesnina and Danish second seed Caroline Wozniacki. -- AFP