No All-Belgian Final at 2005 French Open

PARIS, May 29, 2005 — -- Back from injuries and illness, it looked like Belgium's two powerhouses, sweet-stroking Justine Henin-Hardenne and hard-charging Kim Clijsters, had begun making their way methodically through the draw at the 2005 French Open.

But on Sunday, Clijsters faltered. Despite a strong first set of powerful strokes and deft shot-making, she dropped a three-set struggle to top-seed Lindsay Davenport of the United States, 1-6, 7-5, 6-3.

Despite her loss, Clijsters has signaled she is almost back to top form. With a few more points in the second set -- and a few less double faults -- Clijsters might have beaten Davenport, who expressed pleasant surprise at her victory after a disastrous first set.

"Despite all of it," she said, "I was able to kind of push through and still come out on top.

"I was probably as surprised as anybody when it was all said and done," she said, smiling at the thought.

Clijsters saw it coming.

"She started hitting the ball really well at the end of the second set. She started to, you know, hit her shots really clean."

So that leaves Henin-Hardenne as the final Belgian with a shot at the title. Rain prevented her match with Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova before it could begin. Tournament officials hope to reschedule the match for Monday.

But even if she takes out Kuznetsova, the defending U.S. Open champion, her path to the final here is steep. Second-seeded Maria Sharapova of Russia, the reigning Wimbledon champion, is likely to be standing in the way.

For Henin-Hardenne, the third round was tough enough. She dropped the first set to Spain's Anabel Adina Garrgues. Then she turned on the power and persistence, winning 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. Her earlier victories were over Spaniards Conchita Martinez, 6-0, 4-6, 6-4, and Virginia Ruano Pasqual, 6-1, 6-4.

So that leaves Henin-Hardenne as the final Belgian with a shot at the title. On Monday, she defeated U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia in a match rained out the previous day. Henin-Hardenne survived a match point against Kuznetsova to gain the quarterfinals with a 7-6, 4-6, 7-5 victory.