Tennis: Belgian defending champion Justine Henin-Hardenne beat compatriot Kim Clijsters 6-3 6-2 to reach the final of the French Open today where she will meet Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Henin-Hardenne, seeded fifth, will face eighth seed Kuznetsova in Saturday's final after the Russian stormed back from one set down to knock out Czech teenager Nicole Vaidisova.
Second seed Clijsters, who was celebrating her 23rd birthday on centre court, could have taken over from France's Amelie Mauresmo at the top of the ATP rankings if she had won.
Henin-Hardenne, who won the tournament in 2003 and 2005, saved two break points on her first two service games before breaking decisively in the eighth and she wrapped up the set with an ace.
She broke again in the third and seventh games of the second set to claim victory with a service winner.
Kuznetsova won a thriling tussle with Vaidisova to reach the French Open final today.
Czech teen Vaidisova looked for all the world to be heading for Saturday's Paris showpiece as she served for the match a set and 5-3 ahead, but Kuznetsova came back from the brink to record an unlikely triumph.
The duo started solidly with both women failing to take break point opportunities early on. However it was Kuznetsova who broke first while 4-3 ahead but she failed to serve out for the first set after some inspired play from the 17-year-old.
Vaidisova not only broke back but won the next four games in a row to take the first set 7-5 and establish an early break in the second.
She was playing superbly at this point and holding serve at will. However Kuznetsova dug in bravely and took her chance when Vaidisova served for the match at 5-4.
The Russian fourth seed, a former US Open champion, broke and then edged a titanic tie-break before upping her game in the decider.
Vaidisova hit a string of unforced errors as Kuznetsova broke twice to establish a 4-0 lead.
The Czech 16th seed then held in game five to avoid a final set bagel, but Kuznetsova kept her nerve to close out for a famous 5-7 7-6 (7/5) 6-2 win.