June 6, 2003	Friday	Rabi-us-Sani 5, 1424

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PARIS, June 5: Belgian battler Justine Henin-Hardenne ground the myth of Serena Williams superiority into the dust of Roland Garros, as she dished out a 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 upset loss to the American and reached the final of the French Open on Thursday.

The dramatic defeat left the world No 1 nursing a Grand Slam setback for the first time since the final of the 2001 US Open, when she lost to her sister Venus.

Fourth seed Henin-Hardenne has now beaten the formerly invincible younger Williams for the second time in succession.

She handed the world number 1 her first loss of the season last April for the title at Charleston. A month later, France’s Amelie Mauresmo put another crack in the armour with a Rome semifinal upset of the 21-year-old.

Now Williams stands shattered after the end of a run of 33 consecutive victories at majors, which netted her the last four singles trophies dating to Paris a year ago.

Henin-Hardenne’s courageous victory set up a first-time final at a Slam between Belgians after second-seeded compatriot Kim Clijsters thrashed rookie Russian Nadia Petrova 7-5, 6-1.

“It feels incredible, I cannot believe what I’ve done,” said Clijsters, who got lucky with a heart-breaking net cord bounce on a Petrova set point in the first in which tilted the balance her way for the victory.

French-speaking Henin-Hardenne, who married last winter and turned 21 this week, continued a dream run at the tournament as she beat Williams back-to-back.

The Belgian closed out victory on the first of three match points after a third set littered with seven breaks in the last nine games, the crowd going wild in support.

“It was unbelievable playing in this atmosphere,” said the winner. “They were totally behind me. When you have to fight like I did at 5- 5 in the third, it helps.”

The fans also gave Williams a hard time, cheering her late errors. “It’s true, but that’s tennis,” said Henin-Hardenne. “They wanted me to win this match so much.

“I say thanks to them, but it was a little too much sometimes.”

Williams thudded a backhand wide to lose on the first of three match points, then angrily walked to the net post instead of the net to offer a handful of proffered fingers to the petite but powerful winner to whom she uttered not a word.

Not many seconds later, after failing to shake hands with the chair umpire until reminded, the American stalked off the clay as the stadium erupted in cheers for the pony-tailed giant-killer from what until a few years ago was a tennis backwater.

“The public was extraordinary,” said Henin-Hardenne, set to play her second Grand Slam final after losing at 2001 Wimbledon to Venus. “There were a lot of Belgians in the crowd, but the French were also behind me.”

Williams now stands 31-3 on the year and will stay number 1 with Clijsters chasing on second and Henin-Hardenne claiming third.

After sweeping the opening set with three breaks of Williams, who lost only one set on the way to the Paris title a year ago, Henin- Hardenne found herself in a battle in the second, which Williams won.

But the third set is where the drama quotient ratcheted up.

With breaks going back and forth, and at one point trailing 2-4, Henin-Hardenne felt nerves as she struck two double-faults and put a backhand long in the tenth game when serving for victory, leaving it locked at 5-all.

She then broke Williams straight back to take a 6-5 lead and played a calm, controlled final game to love for the resounding victory which sent the Paris crowd into rapture.

“When I served for it the second time, I thought the most important thing was to get the first serve in. It went so well for me, it gave me an incredible boosts of confidence to finish the victory.”

Women’s semifinal results:

Justine Henin-Hardenne (Belgium) beat Serena Williams (U.S.) 6-2 4-6 7-5 Kim Clijsters (Belgium) beat Nadia Petrova (Russia) 7-5 6-1

Friday’s order of play

Men’s singles semifinals Martin Verkerk (Netherlands) v Guillermo Coria (Argentina); Albert Costa (Spain) v Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spain).—dpa