Henin to play Ivanovic in final

PARIS – Title-holder and top seed Justine Henin set up a French Open final against Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic by defeating another Serb, Jelena Jankovic, 6-2, 6-2 in yesterday’s semi-finals.

Ivanovic had earlier reached her first Grand Slam final at the age of 19 by outplaying Russian second seed Maria Sharapova 6-2, 6-1. The 25-year-old Henin now stands just one match away from a hat-trick of title wins at Roland Garros.The only other woman to achieve that in the Open Era (post-1968) was Monica Seles in 1992.It would also be the sixth Grand Slam title of her career, having already won three in Paris, with one each at the US and Australian Opens, and consolidate her position as world No.1.”I expected a tough battle against her – all our previous games have been that way so I tried to take command right from the start,” Henin said.Jankovic had come into Paris in the best form of her life having won the Italian Open last month and she had dropped just one set en route to the semi-finals.But her record against Henin was abysmal with five straight defeats.She admitted that Henin had been the better player.In overcast, clammy conditions, Henin struck first in the fourth game.A winner hit off her trademark backhand side set up the break points and she converted that by forcing a mistake from Jankovic’s backhand.The Serbian tried to make her heavy ground strokes pay against the lighter Belgian, but Henin gave as good as she got and her greater speed about the court frustrated her opponent.Henin got to 5-2 and then was little more than a spectator as Jankovic threw away her following service game double-faulting on set point.Jankovic fought hard to try and settle the ship at the start of the second set but again she came to the grief on her own service in the fourth game.Henin set up several break points with her whiplash backhand drive and she finally made it pay off with a rasping forehand that fixed Jankovic and left the Belgian with an easy volley at the net.Jankovic kept her slim hopes alive by breaking to love in the next game, but Henin made her pay the price on the Serb’s following serve.This time there was no way back for Jankovic even though she had break points in the next game.Henin held serve and then rammed home her domination by pinning her opponent behind the baseline and forcing her to hit a forehand long on match-point.The Belgian goes through to take on Ivanovic in Saturday’s final having played her just once – a 6-4, 7-5 win on clay in Warsaw in 2005.Jankovic’s consolation in what was her second appearance in a Grand Slam semi-final was that she will be ranked third in the world in the next WTA rankings.Nampa-AFPThe 25-year-old Henin now stands just one match away from a hat-trick of title wins at Roland Garros.The only other woman to achieve that in the Open Era (post-1968) was Monica Seles in 1992.It would also be the sixth Grand Slam title of her career, having already won three in Paris, with one each at the US and Australian Opens, and consolidate her position as world No.1.”I expected a tough battle against her – all our previous games have been that way so I tried to take command right from the start,” Henin said.Jankovic had come into Paris in the best form of her life having won the Italian Open last month and she had dropped just one set en route to the semi-finals.But her record against Henin was abysmal with five straight defeats.She admitted that Henin had been the better player.In overcast, clammy conditions, Henin struck first in the fourth game.A winner hit off her trademark backhand side set up the break points and she converted that by forcing a mistake from Jankovic’s backhand.The Serbian tried to make her heavy ground strokes pay against the lighter Belgian, but Henin gave as good as she got and her greater speed about the court frustrated her opponent.Henin got to 5-2 and then was little more than a spectator as Jankovic threw away her following service game double-faulting on set point.Jankovic fought hard to try and settle the ship at the start of the second set but again she came to the grief on her own service in the fourth game.Henin set up several break points with her whiplash backhand drive and she finally made it pay off with a rasping forehand that fixed Jankovic and left the Belgian with an easy volley at the net.Jankovic kept her slim hopes alive by breaking to love in the next game, but Henin made her pay the price on the Serb’s following serve.This time there was no way back for Jankovic even though she had break points in the next game.Henin held serve and then rammed home her domination by pinning her opponent behind the baseline and forcing her to hit a forehand long on match-point.The Belgian goes through to take on Ivanovic in Saturday’s final having played her just once – a 6-4, 7-5 win on clay in Warsaw in 2005.Jankovic’s consolation in what was her second appearance in a Grand Slam semi-final was that she will be ranked third in the world in the next WTA rankings.Nampa-AFP