Events / Editor / 06 June 2007 /

What price a first all-Serbian women's singles final at the French Open? Well, it could happen now that fourth seed Jelena Jankovic is through to face Justine Henin and Ana Ivanovic takes on Maria Sharapova on Thursday.

The odds are against it with the smart money still favouring Henin, the 25-year-old top seed and double defending champion, fancied to land her fourth title since 2003 at Roland Garros on Saturday.

She is yet to drop a set in the Championship this year or last. In fact, not since her last 16 win over Svetlana Kuznetsova in 2005. Fifteen matches in Paris, not far behind Rafael Nadal in the men's singles.

On top of that she will be buoyant after despatching eighth seed and Australian Open champion Serena Williams, also a former French champion, in straight sets yesterday. That more than made up for blowing two match points before losing to Williams two months ago in Miami 0-6 7-5 6-3.

If you need any more convincing about the Belgian's chances, Henin has faced Jankovic five times - three of them on clay - and won them all.

Each of them have won three titles this year but there the similarities end. Henin has won 32 in all.

A note of caution though. All the Henin-Jankovic encounters have been three-setters and Jankovic, 22, has got to come up trumps one day. She has already reached a Grand Slam semi-final before - the US Open last year. So she can do it again.

Sadly Betfair has Henin trading at 1.44 to win on Thursday.

In the other semi-final 19-year-old Ivanovic is through to her first Grand Slam semi-final as she prepares to face 20-year-old Sharapova.

There may only be barely seven months between them in age but there is a wealth of difference in experience. The Florida-based Russian, two inches the taller at 6ft 2in, is a 2004 Wimbledon winner, 2006 US Open champion and 2007 Australian Open finalist.

But after two Paris quarter-finals in 2004 and 2005 this is her best effort at Roland Garros and she would love to make her first final appearance at Roland Garros.
After beating another 20-year-old Russian in Anna Chakvetadze 6-3 6-4 yesterday, she is just as focused as Henin in aiming for the final.

But there is not a lot in it. Second seed Sharapova, with little match practice under her belt before Paris because of a shoulder injury in March, stands 1-1 in heads to heads with the seventh seed

Sharapova won in two sets when they met in 2006 in Linz 7-6 7-5 but Ivanovic squared it up in Tokyo this year when Sharapova retired when 1-0 up in the second set after losing the first 6-1.

Ivanovic reached the last four by beating last year's beaten finalist Kuznetsova 6-0 3-6 6-1 in the only quarter-final to go to three sets. And that repeated her three-set final win against the Russian in Berlin three weeks ago.
It promises to be an intriguing match when she takes on Sharapova.

And the odds on a battle of the Belgrade girls in the final. You can get 3.25 with Betfair on Jankovic going through, while Ivanovic is available at 2.08.

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