Serb upends Sharapova in semis, will play Henin in Saturday's final

PARIS -- Maria Sharapova's serve was shaky and her strokes were off. Her customary grit was nowhere to be found.

Time and again, she'd shank an easy shot, turn her back to the court and fiddle with her racket strings, searching for an answer. She never found one.

Playing little like a two-time major champion, Sharapova failed to put up much resistance Thursday at the French Open and lost 6-2, 6-1 to Ana Ivanovic, who was as steady as anyone making her Grand Slam semifinal debut could be.

"Once you start off slow -- and I started off slow in the beginning of the first set and the second set -- the train's already in London," the No. 2-seeded Sharapova said. "I mean, it's gone."

Ivanovic, the No. 7 seed, will be the first player to represent Serbia in a major final when she faces two-time defending champion Justine Henin on Saturday. Henin ran her consecutive-set streak at Roland Garros to 33 by beating No. 4 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia 6-2, 6-2.

Henin is aiming for her sixth Grand Slam title and trying to become the first player since Monica Seles in 1990 to 1992 to claim three straight French Open championships.

Ivanovic had made it only as far as the quarterfinals at one Grand Slam tournament before arriving in Paris, and she's won only three career titles on tour.

Sharapova didn't conjure a forehand winner until match's 32nd point and finished with a total of only nine clean winners. Compare that with her unforced error total: 25, a whopping 14 more than Ivanovic.

Sitting nearby in the guest section and rooting for Ivanovic was Novak Djokovic, a 20-year-old Serb who plays in the men's semifinals today against two-time defending champion Rafael Nadal. No. 1 Roger Federer, trying to complete a career Grand Slam, meets No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko in the other semifinal.

Ivanovic said she didn't notice Djokovic's show of support.

"I was really focused on my match," she said. "But that's very nice of him. And tomorrow, I'm going to try to see some of his match. He's a great player -- and great friend of mine."