French Open tennis: Schiavone is turned on by Paris power

FRANCESCA SCHIAVONE credited the inspirational power of the French Open after moving to within one victory of successfully defending her Roland Garros title.

The Italian gave a supreme display of clay-court tennis to beat Marion Bartoli 6-3 6-3 in the semi-finals and will face Li Na on Saturday after the Chinese player saw off Maria Sharapova 6-4 7-5.

Schiavone's victory over Samantha Stosur 12 months ago made her one of the more surprise grand slam winners, and this year's run has also been somewhat unexpected because she has not reached another final in between.

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The 30-year-old, who has now won 13 straight matches at Roland Garros, said: "When I was young, I always dreamed about this tournament, so it is coming from a long, long time ago. When I come here, I feel something special."

Schiavone's variety of spins and slices coupled with her clever placement caused Bartoli all sorts of problems and, although the Frenchwoman took an early lead in the second set, she was always under pressure and eventually that took its toll.

Earlier, Li claimed her biggest scalp yet to reach a second consecutive grand slam final, but she certainly had some help from Sharapova, who served 10 double-faults, including one on match point.

The Chinese player, who lost to Kim Clijsters at the Australian Open, took an early 3-0 lead and, although Sharapova pegged her back, she always looked vulnerable on her own delivery in windy conditions.

The Russian made the better start to the second set and held onto her break until the eighth game but her service troubles ensured Li was always in contention, and the final act came as a surprise to no one.

Sharapova admitted it had not been her best performance but did not blame the wind, saying only: "It's tough for me, it's tough for her."

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