Maria Sharapova, the No. 1 seed and a two-time champion in Birmingham, beat Marion Bartoli of France 7-5, 6-0 in a semifinal on Sunday. Bartoli, who completed her suspended quarterfinal earlier Sunday, defeated third-seeded Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia 5-7, 6-4, 7-5.

The match between Sharapova and Bartoli was temporarily delayed when two spectators needed medical assistance – a woman was left unconscious after falling down a staircase, and a man in another part of the stadium fainted. The helicopter had to be sent to take the woman to the hospital.

Second-seeded Jelena Jankovic reached the final by defeating Italy’s Mara Santangelo 6-1, 7-5.

The final will take place also on Sunday; I’ll keep you posted! (via ESPN)

Top-seeded Maria Sharapova (BTW, currently the highest-paid female athlete) had to win two matches on Saturday to reach the last four of the rain-hit DFS Classic. She beat Austria’s Tamira Paszek 6-3 4-6 6-2 in a much-delayed third-round match. Sharapova had an easier time against Elena Likhovtseva, seeing off her fellow Russian 6-2 6-3 to reach the semi-finals.

"Mentally, you have to be ready for a very long day. You have to be ready no matter how many stops there are,” Maria, the 2004 Wimbledon champion, commented on the rain which constantly interrupted the tournament.

Sharapova missed two months earlier this year due to a right shoulder injury and hopes her crowded schedule doesn't make it worse. Read more »

Seventh-seeded Ana Ivanovic was the first one to reach the final four. She defeated the last year’s French Open finalist Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-0 3-6 6-1. Federer was definitely wrong when he said that Kuznetsova will take the trophy this year.

The rising 19-year-old from Serbia said that she has improved her physical fitness and that now she has more experience which helped her to be calmer in the match against Kuznetsova. Ivanovic will play Maria Sharapova for a place in the final.

Roland Garros was the one Grand Slam tournament in which Sharapova had never reached the semifinals — until Tuesday. In the quarterfinal match against Anna Chakvetadze, there was no evidence of Maria’s problems with the right shoulder. Maria, seeded second, scored the victory in straight sets 6-3 6-4.

"I really didn't know what to expect from [the shoulder]," Sharapova said. "I thought it was going to be worse than it was, so after the match, especially, I'm very pleased. But I wouldn't say I'm surprised or shocked by the situation."

I should mention that Sharapova last played Ivanovic in Tokyo back in February but retired with a hamstring injury trailing 1-6, 1-0. "She's had some good success this clay-court season," Sharapova said. "It will definitely be a very tough match."

Fourth-seeded Jelena Jankovic continues to be the most successful WTA player this year. She has now won 44 of 54 matches. In the quarterfinals she beat sixth-seeded Nicole Vaidisova 6-3 7-5.

In the semis Jankovic will play the defending champion and top-seeded Justine Henin, who overwhelmed Serena Williams 6-4 6-3 to set up a semifinal against the Serb. They played five times till now and all their matches were three-setters. Even though J.J. won the first set four times, she has never defeated the Belgian. Maybe it’s time for her to do it now.

Jankovic, despite her recent success, still has a reputation of being something of a head case. "I will focus on my objectives, and whether or not she buckled under pressure, I mean, it doesn't matter," Henin said. "You might think that's an asset for me, the fact that she's psychologically weak, but I don't pay attention to that. I will have to be cautious, in fact." (source: ESPN, photos: BBC Sport)

Justine Henin BEL (1) vs. Serena Williams USA (8)

According to many people, these two players are most likely to win the 2007 French Open. Henin already possesses three titles from Paris (winning it in 2003, 2005, and 2006), while her opponent in the final 16 has one, from 2002.

In their flourishing careers, they’ve met nine times, and Serena leads 6-3. But maybe it’s more important to point out that the one more successful on clay was Justine. She defeated the American three times (in the finals of Berlin and Charleston, and in the semifinal of Roland Garros). Serena beat Henin on clay only once, in the final of Rome.

Jelena Jankovic SRB (4) vs. Nicole Vaidisova CZE (6)

Vaidisova leads 1-0 on clay. She defeated Jankovic in 2006, in the semifinal of Strasbourg. If we include their matches on other surfaces too, Vaidisova is also better, leading 4-2. However, we mustn’t forget Jelena’s fantastic results this season. In 2007 she’s already won three trophies: in Auckland, Charleston, and Rome.

Ana Ivanovic SRB (7) vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS (3)

Considering the matches they've played so far, Ana has better results, leading 2-1. On clay they played once, and Ana defeated Kuznetsova. That was in the last month’s final of Berlin.

Anna Chakvetadze RUS (9) vs. Maria Sharapova (2)

In this case, situation is clear – they played against each other three times and Chakvetadze has never beat Sharapova. Out of these three matches, they had only one on clay; in the last 32 of the 2005 Roland Garros when Sharapova defeated the compatriot in straight sets.

Jelena Jankovic has had some amazing results this season – she would be ranked No. 1 as of last week if you went by 2007 rankings points earned only.

Exactly one year ago, before the Italian Open, she was thinking about retiring from tennis since she hadn't reached the second round of nine successive tournaments! A year later, she won the Tier I event and moved up to number four in the world. The event in Rome was her third title this year; she had previously won Auckland and Charleston.

Jelena definitely plays some good tennis, but it seems that she hasn't learnt from the experience in Australia earlier this year. During the Australian circuit, she was playing very well, and reached the final of back-to-back events in Auckland and Sydney. She had played 10 matches in two weeks time, right before the first Grand Slam of the year. Jankovic would have been a real contender, had she been a hundred percent fit during the Australian Open. Since she had played too much, she was an easy prey for Serena Williams in the fourth round.

J.J. is definitely in form lately, but didn't she make the same mistake again?

We had Warsaw, Berlin, Rome, and Strasbourg one after the other. In Warsaw, Jankovic reached the semis, in Berlin the quarter-finals, while in Rome she was the winner. The reasonable thing to do was to pull out of Strasbourg, to rest and prepare for the upcoming Roland Garros. However, Jankovic competed in the Tier III event. She reached the semis, and then withdrew because of illness.

Has this restlessness affected Jelena's physical fitness? Will the fourth seed be able to play her best at Roland Garros? (via: TennisX)