Australian No.1 Alicia Molik earned herself a double crack at an Olympic tennis singles medal with an impressive quarter-final win over eighth-seeded Ai Sugiyama.

Molik played fearlessly to outclass her plucky Japanese opponent 6-3 6-4 to set up a semi-final against second-seeded Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo.

Molik is also still in contention for a doubles medal.

The in-form South Australian will team with Rennae Stubbs against Chinese pair Tian Tian Sun and Ting Li for another spot in the semi-finals.

Molik's eighth straight singles victory - including five en route to her second career title last week in Stockholm - guaranteed the 23-year-old at least a bronze-medal playoff, matching Jelena Dokic's effort for Australia at the Sydney Olympics.

The 23rd-ranked Molik has now beaten three of the world's top 15 players in the last three weeks and will head into the semi-final oozing confidence.

She conquered world No.2 Mauresmo last month on the same hard court surface as used in Athens, then opened her Olympics campaign with victory over the sixth-ranked Elena Dementieva and backed up to topple Sugiyama, currently the world No.13.

Molik's only previous meeting with Mauresmo ended with a narrow 7-5 7-5 loss in the fourth round of this year's Australian Open.

The Frenchwoman forfeited her second-round doubles match with Mary Pierce after breaking out in a rash, but recovered from the allergy in time to oust Russian fifth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 6-2 in their quarter-final.

Also through to the women's semi-finals is French Open champion Anastasia Myskina, who trounced Italy's Francesca Schiavone 6-1 6-2.

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