French Open: Justine Henin put aside memories of her acrimonious clash with Serena Williams four years ago to beat the Australian Open champion 6-4 6-3 and reach the French Open semi-finals today.
This time there was no repeat of the highly-charged 2003 match
as the Belgian world number one simply outclassed Williams with her
sublime strokeplay.
Henin stamped her mark on clay by taking the first set with a
forehand winner while Williams succumbed by slamming one of many of
her misfiring forehands into the net.
Henin, chasing a hat-trick of titles, has now won 31
consecutive sets in Paris dating back to 2005. She will face fourth
seed Jelena Jankovic for a place in Saturday's final.
Fourth seed Jankovic became the first player to secure her place in the semis after a straight-sets victory over Nicole Vaidisova. The in-form Serbian was a 6-3 7-5 winner on Suzanne Lenglen court.
Vaidisova, the 17-year-old sixth seed, showed courage in saving four match points, the first in the 10th game of the second set and three more two games later. But a forehand into the net on the fifth match point earned a nervy Jankovic a semi-final berth.
She was joined there minutes later by another Serb, Ana Ivanovic, who defeated third-seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in three sets.
Ivanovic, the seventh seed, won 6-0 3-6 6-1 on Philippe Chatrier court, and will play either Maria Sharapova or Anna Chakvetadze in the semis.
Kuznetsova appeared to be struggling with stomach pains for the majority of the final set. Ivanovic secured victory on the first of her three match points.