Maria Sharapova will have to end a nine-year losing streak against Serena Williams if she is to take home a second successive French Open title.

The world’s top two players reached the final in contrasting fashion yesterday, with Sharapova battling for two hours and 10 minutes to see off Victoria Azarenka 6-1 2-6 6-4.

Williams, meanwhile, routed last year’s runner-up Sara Errani 6-0 6-1 in only 46 minutes to reach her first final at Roland Garros since she won her only title in 2002.

With an obvious difference in power between the two, there was always a concern it could be a horribly one-sided match, and so it proved.

Williams has been in superb form, with this win her 30th in a row, while since a first-round defeat here last year she has won 73 of 76 matches.

Errani simply could do nothing to counter the power coming from the other end of the court, with her serves dispatched back past her before she could move.

The Italian won only eight points in the first set, and had managed just 10 when Williams moved 3-0 up in the second.

The American had looked a little shaky in her quarter-final on Tuesday, fighting back from a break down in the decider to beat Svetlana Kuznetsova, but she was a woman on a mission yesterday.

Errani finally got on the board in the fourth game of the second set, raising her arms aloft, but she had little to celebrate as Williams swiftly reeled off the next three games, dropping just 18 points and finishing with her fifth ace.

The Russian, who next meets world number one Serena Williams, served 12 aces and 11 double faults in a see-saw encounter against the Bela-russian.

Forehand winners

Second seed Sharapova raced through the opening set in less than half an hour, spraying Court Philippe Chatrier with forehand winners.

Double Australian Open champion Azarenka hit back to take the second set but lost her momentum after a 30-minute rain interruption.

Sharapova wrapped it up on her fifth match point after two hours 10 minutes of baseline biffing and shrieking.

“I’m really happy with the way I came out from playing a tough match yesterday. I wish I could have carried that through in two - but I did the job and I’m happy from where I was in the beginning of the tournament to where I am today,” Sharapova told a news conference.

“I just hope that I can improve for the next one.”

Belarussian Azarenka, on her part, was making her first appearance in the French Open semi-finals.

“Today I’m disappointed about the match and what happened out there, but overall I have to give myself credit for going one step further,” said Azarenka.

“Even though I lost today I still tried to come back and tried to make something happen, which before was much more difficult for me to do.”

Playing today

Men’s semi-finals: 1pm N. Djokovic vs R. Nadal; (to follow) D. Ferrer vs J. Tsonga.