Inspired Francesca Schiavone sets up final with Li Na

Francesca Schiavone credited the inspirational power of the French Open after moving to within one victory of a second successive 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 yesterday afternoon 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.

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 had lost ten of the first 12 games in her last-eight clash against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova but she was switched on from the start yesterday.

Bartoli had the support of the crowd but her opponent gradually wound things up and broke through in the eighth game before clinching the set in superb style.

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 ten 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 on to 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 yesterday had not been one of her better performances, but did not blame the wind, saying only: "It's tough for me, it's tough for her. She played a very good match. She certainly played a lot better than I did and a lot more solid. She played the crucial points better. At times I didn't serve well and was rushing more than I had to. Considering the conditions, maybe I was just trying to go for too big second serves especially."

Victory would have given Sharapova a chance of completing a career grand slam but, after making the last four of a major for the first time since 2008, the 24-year-old said: "This was a great result for me here. It's been a good season on clay."