PARIS, June 8: Defending champion Justine Henin-Hardenne overcame Belgian compatriot Kim Clijsters 6-3, 6-2 to reach the final of the French Open on Thursday.

The 24-year-old fifth seed will meet Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final on Sunday after the eighth seed put out teenager Nicole Vaidisova 5-7, 7-6 (7/5), 6-2.

The eagerly-anticipated match-up between the two Belgian former world number ones never really exploded into life as Henin-Hardenne quickly imposed a stranglehold on proceedings.

Coming into the match, Clijsters, the US Open champion, had described her Fed Cup teammate as the best clay courter in the world, an ominous sign of what lay ahead.

Henin-Hardenne backed up Clijsters' claim in spectacular fashion, breaking her countrywoman to take a 5-3 lead in the first set before two more breaks in the second secured a surprisingly comfortable passge into the title match.

It took the pair's head-to-head record to 10-10 and Henin-Hardenne gave up only one more game than she had done in her victorious final over Clijsters here in 2003.

Vaidisova had served for the match at 5-4 in the second set but just as the 17-year-old sensation looked set to cap a fine tournament by making her first ever Grand Slam final, she choked.

Kuznetsova needed no second invitation and turned the screw on a faltering opponent to claim the second set on a tie-break and then romp away with the decider.

“At 5-4 I said: 'I have to win this game or I'm going to be in Barcelona (her home) tomorrow,'” said Kuznetsova.

“I think I was more experienced. In the third set I was stronger physically and I started to do better. She made more mistakes and I started attacking more.”

Vaidisova prefered to focus on what she had achieved at this tournament rather than dwell on her semi-final collapse.

In the previous two rounds she beat two of the four Grand Slam title holders, world number one and Australian Open champion Amelie Mauresmo of France and USA's Wimbledon champion Venus Williams.

“I had my chances but it happens, I'm just very excited to have been playing in the French Open semis,” said the 16th seed.

“Of course I'm disappointed, I dont like to lose, but I can be proud of what I did and take this experience on to the next tournament.

“It's not like I had match point. Even if you're 5-4 up and serving, you're still so far from winning.”

The Czech had started the match with a string of wild forehands as she took a fearless approach to the task ahead, hitting deep groundstrokes that often peppered, but all too frequently cleared, the baseline.

That inconsistency cost her the first break of the match but from 5-3 down in the first she stepped up a gear and reeled off six games in a row to seemingly set up victory.

She had been comfortably serving out the match until 5-4 when suddenly the nerves returned and her forehand went to pot. Vaidisova kept thrashing fierce groundstrokes over the net but her trajectory seemed broken and the error count mounted.

She finished with 47 unforced errors to just 19 from the Russian, although Vaidisova's positive approach had also garnered 54 winners compared to 26 for Kuznetsova.

Still, the steadier approach of the Russian prevailed and she hardly put a foot wrong in the one-sided third set.

Still, the steadier approach of the Russian prevailed and she hardly put a foot wrong in the one-sided third set.

Vaidisova had a brief sniff of a chance at 1-4 when she took a 0-30 lead on the Kuznetsova serve but her haphazard forehand scotched any hopes she had of turning things around.

Results (semifinals):

Women’s: Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS x8) bt Nicole Vaidisova (CZE x16) 5-7, 7-6 (7/5), 6-2; Justine Henin-Hardenne (BEL x5) bt Kim Clijsters (BEL x2) 6-3, 6-2.—Agencies