BEIJING — Andy Roddick overcame four double-faults in the first set — and a smashed racket to show for it — to defeat Juan Carlos Ferrero 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 today and reach the semifinals of the China Open.

The second-seeded American, who tossed another racket in anger in the second set, served 23 aces to defeat the Spaniard.

Roddick will face unseeded Bjorn Phau in the semifinals, with Dudi Sela playing Rainer Schuettler in the other.

In women's quarterfinal play, second-seeded Ana Ivanovic was ousted by home favorite Zheng Jie 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-4. A semifinalist at Wimbledon, Zheng overcame the French Open champion and former top-ranked Serb, whose serves and ground strokes were erratic.

Roddick fell behind early as Ferrero found a weak spot.

"He had a little bit of a different strategy than he normally does," Roddick said. "He came in and attacked my forehand."

Roddick grew so frustrated that he slammed his racket into the court after one missed shot, breaking the head in half.

"I had to let it out," Roddick said.

Asked if losing his temper helped, Roddick shrugged.

"I can give you 20 examples of when it's helped, and I can give you 20 when it hasn't," he said. "I thought it was necessary. I was pretty upset, pretty fed up with the way I was playing."

In the three other quarterfinals, Jelena Jankovic defeated Daniela Hantuchova 7-5, 6-1; Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 6-4 and Vera Zvonareva stopped Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-0, 6-1.

In the semifinals, Zheng plays Kuznetsova, while Jankovic plays Zvonareva.

Wimbledon semifinalist Zheng had the support of home fans at the Beijing Tennis Center. She is the only Chinese woman still playing in the tournament after four others lost in the first round.

Zheng previously beat Ivanovic en route to the Wimbledon semifinals.

"This is a good win for me," she said. "It was in China and in front of my home crowd. There were lots of fans supporting me, which gave me even more motivation."

The 30th-ranked Zheng is hoping the ranking points earned will push her past her previous career high of No. 27.

Ivanovic has battled hand and leg injuries since winning in Paris, which has limited her play and confidence. However, she described her match Friday as "one of the best" since the French Open.

"I haven't had many matches in the last three months," she said. "Since the French Open, you can count them on one hand the number of matches I played.

"I've been really struggling with injuries and it was a very frustrating time. But now I am confident again that I play 100 percent — and I can go on the court and work 100 percent."

In the men's quarterfinals, Sela upset No. 6 Tommy Robredo 6-4, 6-1 to reach his first semifinal in a major ATP event. Sela was boosted by two wins over the weekend in a Davis Cup tie against Peru.

Sela trailed early against Robredo, but turned things by attacking and hitting to the Spaniard's backhand.

"Every short ball he hit, I didn't wait," said Sela, who upset top-seeded David Ferrer on Thursday. "I went for the ball. I knew I had to attack him. If not he's going to move me around."

Two other seeded players also lost on Friday.

Schuettler ousted No. 4 Richard Gasquet 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, while unseeded Bjorn Phau upset third-seeded defending champion Fernando Gonzalez 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.