• French Open, Day Ten

World No. 3 Wozniacki beaten by Schiavone

Francesca Schiavone was better in all areas against Caroline Wozniacki © Getty Images

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Day ten gallery

Francesca Schiavone overwhelmed world No. 3 Caroline Wozniacki 6-2 6-3 to power into the first Grand Slam semi-final of her career at Roland Garros on Tuesday.

With Serena Williams the only player left in the draw who had previously won a Grand Slam, the path appeared to be open for Danish starlet Wozniacki, who was chasing her first French Open semi-final. However, she struggled with her grip on the rain-affected court and lost out in all areas to the superbly well-rounded game of Schiavone.

The pair had only met once before, a victory for Schiavone in Zurich, yet it seemed as though the Italian had the script to every Wozniacki tactic as she left her opponent smashing her racket into the clay. Choosing to attack the net with surprising frequency, Schiavone's backhand worked like a dream to force Wozniacki to do all the running.

After going with serve early on, the match exploded into life in the fourth game with three consecutive breaks - two to the Italian. First Schiavone produced a sublime running backhand winner and then a delicate lob to break for 3-1 and then, after Wozniacki immediately hit back with one of her own, the world No. 17 again found a way to penetrate the Wozniacki serve thanks in part to a fortunate net cord.

A third break for Schiavone, aided by a double fault from her rival, allowed her to clinch the first set at the second attempt, leaving Wozniacki to bully the clay beneath her feet in clear frustration.

The second set threw up more of the same as an early Schiavone break sparked four service breaks in a row - Wozniacki still doing the majority of the work to stay in the match. The run was ended by the Dane, who held serve for only the second time in the match to string two games together for the first time in the contest.

Wozniacki had a foothold at 3-4, but six straight points for Schiavone and a wonderful slide backhand down the line set up one more break, and it was enough to allow the Italian the chance to serve for victory.

Schiavone will play Elena Dementieva for a place in the French Open final after the Russian roared back from a set down to beat Nadia Petrova 2-6 6-2 6-0.

Dementieva struggled with muscular problems in the first set and, coupled with rain delays, Petrova adjusted better to the stop-start nature of the match, breaking three times to clinch the opener 6-2. The world No. 20 knocked out Venus Williams in her previous match, and she was looking on course to add world No. 5 Dementieva to her list of victims.

However, Dementieva suddenly moved through the gears in the remaining two sets, breaking twice in the second set and then on three consecutive occasions in the final stanza. Victory keeps alive her hopes of a maiden French Open title after finishing runner-up in 2004.

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