The world No 11, who was the 2007 runner-up at The Championships, Wimbledon, defeated qualifier Alisa Kleybanova 6-3 6-3 in 78 minutes.

Played on a wind-swept Centre Court in front of a near capacity crowd, Bartoli never looked in trouble as she faced just one break point and notched six aces against her Russian opponent.

The 23 year-old Frenchwoman, who is double-handed on both sides, will be vying to improve on last year's performance when she lost against Justine Henin in the final four.

Bartoli said, "My game is well suited to grass because I take the ball early and hit it flatter than most players which gives me a better chance of putting it away.

"I've been practicing every day and I feel like my energy has come back. If I keep going and playing like this then I think I'll have a great chance of making the final."

In Friday's semi-final, Bartoli will meet the Polish No 4 seed, Agnieszka Radwanska, who defeated Argentinean Gisela Dulko 6-3 6-4 in the last quarter-final of the day.

Ranked No 14 in the world, the 19 year-old right-hander is chasing her third Sony Ericsson WTA Tour title of 2008 having already claimed victories in Pattaya City and Istanbul.

Radwanska said, "I'm very happy about my matches today and that I made it to the semi-final here at Eastbourne.

"I believe this is only my second semi-final at such a big tournament. The conditions were pretty hard today with the wind but it is just a very good field here and there are no easy matches.

Radwanska continued, "The match tomorrow against Marion will be very difficult. I won the last time we played a couple of months ago but that was on a hard court and she has shown this week and last year at Wimbledon that she plays really well on grass. So it will be difficult… but let's see."

In the top half of the draw, Sam Stosur saw off Danish teenager Caroline Wozniacki 7-6(3) 6-4 in a high quality match. The Australian 24 year-old, who is fighting back from both injury and illness, won the doubles title in Eastbourne last year with American Lisa Raymond.

Stosur said, "I'm heading in the right direction. I'm not there yet but I'm definitely improving out there. I've been trying to get as many matches as I can and just worry about my own game and trying to improve it.

"If that matches up with my opponent's weaknesses and I win then that's great, but I've never won a (singles] tournament before so it's not like I am expecting to do that every week."

Completing the list of semi-finalists is Nadia Petrova, who defeated fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova 6-4 6-3 in another 78 minute match.

Ranked No 22 in the world, the 2007 Eastbourne semi-finalist fired six aces and broke serve four times en route to meeting Stosur on Friday.

Petrova said, "It feels good to be out there and I feel like I'm getting more used to the grass with each match. I'm very pleased with my performance so far but tomorrow is a completely different day."

With the doubles event also through to the semi-final stage, Cara Black and Liezel Huber will meet Jill Craybas and Olga Govortsova while Vera Dushevina and Alicja Rosolska will face Kveta Peschke and Rennae Stubbs.

Play will begin on Friday at 12:30pm on Centre Court with both sets of semi-finals getting under way.

A Think Pink demonstration, led by Judy Murray and Carl Maes, will also take place with crowds being treated to an exhibition by a group of up-and-coming 10 year-old girls.

The event will provide the participating juniors with an opportunity to live the life of a pro player for the day and act as part of the LTA's drive to get more girls' playing tennis.

Tickets are currently on sale for the International Women's Open which takes place at Eastbourne's Devonshire Park and offers sports fans an opportunity to watch world class tennis.

The main draw matches are taking place between 16th-21st June and ticket information is available from the box office on 01323 412 000.