Ivanovic hangs tough to set up Safina date

For once, Dinara Safina chose not to live on the edge yesterday and swept into a French Open final 6-3 6-2 against Russian compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova.

There she will meet the new queen of women's tennis, Ana Ivanovic, who produced a scrappy, brittle and erratic performance to beat fellow Serb Jelena Jankovic 6-4 3-6 6-4 and climb to the top of the women's rankings.

Ivanovic may have fulfilled one of her childhood dreams by ending Maria Sharapova's reign as world number one but she will be aware that top spot will count for little if she fails to win the claycourt crown at Roland Garros tomorrow.

"It was a tough match, there were lots of ups and down. I was just so happy to stay strong in the end and win the match, but it was a very tough one," said Ivanovic, the 2007 finalist.

To win the title she will have to break the indomitable spirit of Safina, who reached her first grand slam final.

The younger sister of Marat Safin had staged two successive great escapes, coming from a set and match points down to beat Sharapova and seventh seed Elena Dementieva, to reach the semis.

It led to fourth seed Kuznetsova declaring: "She has too many lives, so I have to be careful with her."

But the 2004 US Open champion failed to heed her own words and became the third top-10 seed to fall under Safina's spell.

"It was pretty horrible," said a disgusted Kuznetsova, whom Justine Henin had picked as her successor to the title. "I felt pretty bad out there, I could not give her fight because I was fighting first against myself and I cannot go further than that."

Playing a hot-headed rival who had spent almost 5-1/2 hours on court in her last two matches, Kuznetsova would have been expected to wear down Safina.

She had no such luck, however, and her normally reliable forehand crumbled.

After the first set, which featured five breaks, Kuznetsova suddenly exploded in the fifth game of the second when she was down 0-15.

She blasted the ball 12 rows deep into the stands, incurring a warning.

Such outbursts would normally be expected from Safina rather than her opponent but not yesterday. The Russian kept a lid on her emotions and sealed the match when Kuznetsova ballooned yet another forehand wide.

"At 5-2 I got a little bit tight but I thought no, no, no, otherwise I will go home. It feels amazing," grinned Safina.

"But I'm still here. I won in straight sets so that's strange for me. I didn't expect I could get into the final. The less you expect, the more you get."

The win also gave the Safin family a unique place in the record books. With Marat owning two grand slam trophies, Safina's win yesterday means tomorrow's final will mark the first time a brother and sister have appeared in grand slam singles finals.