ESPN 2007 French Open

1. Justine Henin vs. 4. Jelena Jankovic
Justine Henin is the two-time defending French Open champion, and her quest for a third straight is right on track. Through five matches, the top-ranked Belgian has yet to concede a set. After an emphatic thumping of Serena Williams in the quarterfinals, Henin's streak reached 31 consecutive sets won at Roland Garros.

Next up for Henin is fourth-seeded Jelena Jankovic, who is reaching her second career Grand Slam semifinal. Jankovic's road to the semis has been fairly seamless, with the exception of a three-set encounter versus Venus Williams in the third round.

Jankovic will be a formidable hurdle for Henin, despite a lopsided head-to-head record in Henin's favor. The Serb has reached four finals this season, winning three titles. Two of those came on clay.

While all eyes will be on Henin to three-peat, she's well aware of the threat her upcoming opponent presents.

"She improved so much," Henin said. "She's a great player. She can play very well on the clay also."

Henin and Jankovic have played five times and Henin, the World No.1, has won each of those. Each match, however, went the distance.

"I don't know why I won all my matches in three sets," Henin said. "It's been a long fight every time. Is it going to be different on Thursday? No answer. But now, we'll see."

Speed and determination have served as the perfect formula for Jankovic's recent success.

"I always give my best, and I fight until the end," Jankovic said. "I never want to let the opponent get on top of me. I'm just there to fight and really give my all on the court."

Regardless of the outcome, Jankovic will be ranked at least No. 3 at the end of the tournament, the highest ever by a Serbian-born woman.

2. Maria Sharapova vs. 7. Ana Ivanovic
Maria Sharapova's semifinal run comes as a surprise considering she needed a cortisone shot in her ailing right shoulder in March. Prior to the French Open, she played in only tune-up tournament in the past three months. Additionally, clay has never been her surface of choice.

Sharapova, though, does not lack confidence considering her recent travails. Her presence in the final four is proof.

"I wouldn't say I'm surprised, you know. I didn't come off the court and go, 'Wow, I'm in the semifinals,'" Sharapova said. "That wasn't really the feeling that I had. I still believed in myself with every round and every situation that I was in."

A possible No. 1 ranking is also incentive for Sharapova to succeed. Simply, if Sharapova advances one round further than Henin, she will overtake the top spot. It would be her fourth stint atop the charts.

Like Henin, Sharapova faces a tenacious Serbian opponent in Ana Ivanovic. She joined Jankovic in the semifinals after dismissing last year's runner-up, Svetlana Kuznetsova.

It's the first time two Serbian-born players have made the semifinals of the same major event. Their emergence is intriguing and perhaps the beginning of a new paradigm in tennis.

And if Jankovic and Ivanovic both win?

"That would be very exciting," Ivanovic said. "That never happened before, so I would be very happy if that happens. But it is important to take it match by match.

"It's very exciting to see all of us doing so well. Especially because we are all very young, so we all have many years in front of us and many possibilities."

Ivanovic will step on the court as a first-time Grand Slam semifinalist. Although her last two matches have gone three sets, she has spent the least amount of time on the court of all the remaining participants.

Ivanovic defeated Sharapova earlier this year in Tokyo, evening their career head-to-head record at one win apiece.

PARIS -- Lisa Raymond, the senior half of the world's No. 1 doubles team, played in her first French Open doubles draw in 1994 and won her first title here in 2006. This year, she was the last American player left anywhere in the competition. That may not be a total coincidence.

Raymond and partner Samantha Stosur of Australia, top seeds here, lost in the quarterfinals Wednesday, 1-6, 6-4, 6-3, to Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia and Japan's Ai Sugiyama. Their elimination came the day after the top-seeded duo of Bob and Mike Bryan were upended in the quarterfinals in three sets by the Czech team of Lukas Dlouhy and Pavel Vizner.

Still, the American doubles teams seem to outshine their singles counterparts every spring. The 33-year-old Raymond, a Philadelphia-area native who played at the University of Florida, said the reason she's had success on clay is that she committed to it long-term and makes the necessary adjustments to her game. She dismisses the rationale that Americans are at a disadvantage because they don't play on clay as youngsters.

"That's kind of a cop-out, really,'' Raymond said with typical bluntness. "If you want to succeed, you make it work.

"It's completely different, especially for a team like the Bryans or Sam and myself who are so aggressive. This is not our forte. We want to be on the quicker surfaces. It's a lot of hours of practice. We're so used to serving and then having a volley right there. Now you have to slide into the volley. You can't just hit your return and run forward. You have to hit and wait. There's a lot more strategy on a clay court.''

Raymond and Stosur have won titles in Tokyo, Indian Wells, Miami and Berlin (on clay) this season, but "We always struggle with that transition from Miami to Amelia [Island] and Charleston,'' Raymond said.

"You have to prioritize," he added. "Do you want to do well at the French Open? If you do, you have to play tournaments leading up, and you have to put in the hours on the practice court. I don't want to do it. I would have loved to be home when I was in Berlin. But we made the commitment, Sam obviously was playing singles as well. But as defending champions, there was no way we were going to walk up here with no matches.''

Raymond said she plans to play through next season, primarily because she wants a shot at the Beijing Olympics.