Samantha Stosur stormed into the French Open final yesterday, beating Jelena Jankovic 6-1, 6-2, and she will become the first Australian woman in 30 years to capture a Grand Slam title if she wins again tomorrow.
Her opponent in that final will be Italy's Francesca Schiavone, who won a first set tie break 7-3 against Russian fifth seed Elena Dementieva who then quit because of a calf muscle injury.
Stosur's crushing one hour-long win over fourth seed Jankovic put her into her first Grand Slam title at the age of 26, almost four years younger than Evonne Cawley was when she won the last of her seven Grand Slam singles title at Wimbledon in 1980.
For Jankovic the loss is another heavy blow to her hopes of finally winning a Grand Slam title at what was her 27th attempt.
"I've been playing well and if I can keep this form going I think I have got a good shot," said Stosur, who defeated four times former winner Justine Henin and top seed Serena Williams in the two previous rounds.
The Gold Coast resident opened strongly against Jankovic although she did not need to produce anything out of the ordinary as the Serb struggled with her game, conceding the set in just 24 minutes.
Jankovic, who was casting anxious glances at her coach and mother in the players' box, finally settled down her game to open the second set.
She then broke Stosur's serve for the first time but promptly gave that back in the following game handing over the momentum to the Australian.
There was no way back for Jankovic as Stosur inexorably moved within one win of ending one of the longest and most painful droughts in Australian sport.
Schiavone, meanwhile, became the first Italian woman to reach a Grand Slam final.
The 29-year-old Italian won the opener 7-6 when Dementieva, who had been suffering from a groin injury, quit in tears after 70 minutes on court.
Unwanted record
The tearful conclusion to the match extended Dementieva's unwanted record of having played 46 Grand Slam tournaments without winning a major title, the longest streak in the women's game.
Having been the runner-up in 2004, she was the overwhelming favourite to reach tomorrow's title match.
"I don't know what was wrong. Her decision took me by surprise," said Schiavone, who reached the semi-final by knocking out world no.3 Caroline Wozniacki in the last eight.
"But if she pulled out, it must be for a good reason. It's fantastic to get to the final. It's a great emotion. I have made history for my country and for myself."
Schiavone became the first Italian woman to reach a Grand Slam semi-final since Silvia Lazzarano in Paris in 1954.
She will move into the top 10 for the first time next week.