HENIN AND SHARAPOVA WIN THROUGH

Justine Henin overcame her toughest test yet to reach the semi-finals of the French Open as she bids to win the event for the third successive year.

The defending champion beat Serena Williams 6-4 6-3 to move into the last four, where she is joined by second seed Maria Sharapova.

Sharapova saw off the challenge of fellow Russian Anna Chakvetadze 6-3 6-4 to set up a semi-final clash with Ana Ivanovic, while Henin will face the other Serb left in the draw, Jelena Jankovic.

There was precious little to choose between Henin and Australian Open champion Williams in the first set, but it was the Belgian who claimed the decisive break.

Henin then grew stronger in the second set, breaking at 2-2 and then again to book her passage to the semi-finals.

The first set had been just the sort of tight encounter that had been expected, Henin winning just one point more than her opponent and with both players hitting the same number of winners and unforced errors.

The second set, however, was a different story. After trading breaks at the beginning of the set, Henin secured a further break to edge 3-2 ahead and consolidated with an efficient service game for a 4-2 lead.

Williams held in her next service game to keep the pressure on the top seed but was unable to follow it up with a break of serve.

Henin raced to 40-15 against the Williams serve in the ninth game and closed out the match at the first opportunity.

Playing in her fifth French Open, Sharapova reached the last four for the first time with a comfortable win over ninth seed Chakvetadze.

Sharapova had to save three match points to get past Switzerland's Patty Schnyder, but she earned decisive breaks at key times to subdue Chakvetadze.

The former Wimbledon champion broke for a 4-2 lead in the first set and after saving three break points in the next game was able to serve out for the set in the ninth.

Chakvetadze then dropped her serve to love in the ninth game of the second set to ease Sharapova on her way to victory.

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Hewitt in the know about Paris

Lleyton Hewitt has never won the French Open, but he still knows what it takes to conquer the toughest Grand Slam of all. On his last two appearances on the Paris red clay, the 26-year-old Australian has been defeated by the man who eventually went on to win the title.

In 2004, he was beaten by Argentina's Gaston Gaudio in straight sets in the quarter-finals while, last year, he took a set off Rafael Nadal before the Spaniard prevailed in the fourth round.

Hewitt, a former world number one and a Wimbledon and US Open champion, is seeded 14 at Roland Garros this year and is confident of making at least the fourth round where, once again, Nadal should be waiting.

Hewitt pushed Nadal all the way in the Hamburg Masters semi-finals, a performance which earned the praise of the 20-year-old French Open champion.

THREE IN A ROW FOR NADAL

Rafael Nadal has secured his third straight Rome Masters title after defeating Fernando Gonzalez 6-2 6-2 in the final at the Foro Italico.

Not only did the win enable Nadal to equal Thomas Muster's record of three Rome titles, it also both marked his 13th consecutive title on clay and extended his winning streak on the surface to 77 matches.

On the strength of his display in defeating crowd favourite Filippo Volandri on Saturday, the sixth-seeded Chilean had been expected to offer more of a challenge to Nadal.

HENIN CLAIMS WARSAW SUCCESS

Justine Henin won her third title of the season with a 6-1 6-3 victory against Alona Bondarenko in the final of the J&S Cup in Warsaw.

The final was delayed for 24 hours until Monday due to inclement weather but Henin wasted little time when play did get under way.

The Belgian needed just 61 minutes to crush her unseeded Ukrainian opponent in two one-sided sets and claim the 32nd title of her career.

Henin set the tone by securing a service break in the opening game and going on to race through the first set 6-1.

The second set was more competitive as Bondarenko recovered from dropping the first two games to level at 2-2.

But Henin saved three break points in the fifth game, reasserted control with a break of her own for a 5-3 lead, and then served out for victory.