Former champions Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belgium and Mary Pierce of France have advanced to the women's final of the French Open tennis tournament in Paris.
Henin-Hardenne, the 2003 winner, beat Russian Nadia Petrova in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3, to reach her fourth final of the year. Pierce, the 2000 champion, overpowered Elena Likhovtseva of Russia, 6-1, 6-1.
The two players have met three times before, with Henin-Hardenne defeating Pierce in all three matches, including at last year's Olympics in Athens.
The men's semifinals are Friday with world number one player Roger Federer of Switzerland taking on Spain's Rafael Nadal, and Nikolay Davydenko of Russia facing Mariano Puerta of Argentina.
Some information for this report provided by AP.