Paris, June 05: Fourth seed Justine Henin-Hardenne shocked US defending champion and top seed Serena Williams 6-2 4-6 7-5 in an epic 2hr 20min semi-final today to book a meeting with fellow Belgian and second seed Kim Clijsters in the French Open women's singles final. Clijsters earlier beat unseeded Russian Nadia Petrova 7-5 6-1.
Henin threw up her arms in the air in triumph as she won an enthralling contest by holding to love after a see-saw decider when Williams drove wide.
The American then drew a hail of booing from a crowd which had been against her throughout as she gave her conqueror the briefest of handshakes at the end.
"The level of the match was very, very high - though I briefly panicked at the idea of winning. But I believed in myself and took it point by point as I kept my focus," said Henin-Hardenne, scoring her third career win over the outgoing champion.
"Serena can be very intimidating - it was tough to serve out - at 4-2 down in the third I had some doubts - but it's so good to be into my first final here. I am very happy, it's an emotional moment - I'll have to get my energy back for Saturday!
"It was a wonderful atmosphere - there were so many Belgians here and the French fans were behind me too." Bureau Report