The Belgian third seed will now take on either Li Na of China or second seeded compatriot Kim Clijsters for a place in the final as she targets the only Grand Slam title to have eluded her.

"It was tough because of the heat," said Henin-Hardenne who will be playing in her fourth semi-final here.

"Severine played some unbelievable tennis and she's very comfortable on grass.

"I wasn't feeling very well at the start of the match but I was ready to fight."

In a match-up of two of tour's few married players, Bremond, only the fifth qualifier in history to reach the last eight, dropped her opening service game in the Court One clash before levelling at 2-2.

The 26-year-old tried to serve-and-volley her way into the ascendancy but the French Open champion made the most of a poor Bremond service game in the ninth on her way to taking the first set after 41 minutes.

Any hopes of a shock fightback by the world 129 were quickly dashed as triple French Open champion Henin-Hardenne stormed into a 3-0 lead in the second set with two breaks.

Bremond, who battled through three tough qualifying rounds and then saved five match points to beat Argentina's Gisela Dulko in the third round, rallied briefly to break to 1-3.

However, Henin-Hardenne, the runner-up in 2001, was never seriously threatened and she took the tie with a confident backhand volley.

Meanwhile, China's Wimbledon dream melted in the blistering heat when Kim Clijsters ended Li Na's record-breaking run to the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 7-5 win.

Clijsters now takes on compatriot Justine Henin-Hardenne for a place in the final but Li Na, the 24-year-old from Wuhan who made history by becoming the first Chinese player to make the last eight of a Grand Slam, had her chances.

After losing the first set to the experienced second seed, the world number 30 let a 5-2 lead in the second set slip away.

Li then had a set point in the ninth game but then had to dig deep to fend off two match points in the 12th.

Clijsters's greater experience of the big game occasion eventually proved crucial however with the Belgian moving into her second career Wimbledon semi-final when Li hit a forehand return long after an 87-minute Centre Court tussle.