The Great (Final) Eight

ByABC News
September 8, 2006, 4:31 AM

FLUSHING MEADOWS, N.Y., Sept. 8, 2006 — -- And then there were eight.

Four men and four women.

Fighting their way through fivematches, each has climbed near the summit of the 2006 US Open.

They face a final test before reaching the peak -- the finals.

Belgium's Justine Henin-Hardenne, who has won the internationalchampionships of France twice, Australia, and the United States,faces the least-known semifinalist, Jelena Jankovic of Serbia,whose prior greatest claim to fame was her victory in theAustralian Open Junior Championships in 2001.

In a second semifinal, France's Amelie Mauresmo, winner of twoof the four major international championships this year (Australiaand Wimbledon) faces Russia's Maria Sharapova, the 2004 Wimbledonchampion who pops out of billboards, Web sites and magazine spreadsat the drop of a drop shot.

The winners of these two matches meet Saturday for the USOpen women's singles championship.

Who's the women's favorite?

As top seed, Mauresmo has to be rated highly, but Sharapova hasshown dogged determination, winning every set of each match, losingonly 27 games in that stretch.

Mauresmo survived a second setwipeout against Serena Williams before winning their Round of 16encounter, 6-4, 0-6, 6-2.

Although Henin-Hardenne is seeded second, she has complained ofa painful condition brought on by a bruised rib and side effects ofmedication that caused her to default in the final of theAustralian Open in January.

"I have this problem a little bit from the problems I had in mystomach in Australia," she said to reporters after her 6-4, 6-4dismissal of America's Lindsay Davenport in the quarterfinals.

Of her Serbian opponent, Henin-Hardenne offered this opinion:"I'm gonna have a tough semifinal. It looks easy on the paper whenyou look at the rankings."

Henin-Hardenne is second in the world; Jankovic was seeded 19th here based on her world ranking.

But Henin-Hardenne adds a warning: "Jankovic is playing greattennis this week. It's gonna be a tough, tough one for me."