Henin-Hardenne knocks out Clijsters to reach final

PARIS, June 8 (Reuters) Belgian defending champion Justine Henin-Hardenne beat compatriot Kim Clijsters 6-3 6-2 to reach the final of the French Open today.

Henin-Hardenne, seeded fifth, will face eighth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in Saturday's final after the Russian stormed back from one set down to knock out Czech teenager Nicole Vaidisova.

Second seed Clijsters, who was celebrating her 23rd birthday on centre court, could have taken over from France's Amelie Mauresmo at the top of the ATP rankings if she had won.

Henin-Hardenne, who won the tournament in 2003 and 2005, saved two break points on her first two service games before breaking decisively in the eighth and she wrapped up the set with an ace.

She broke again in the third and seventh games of the second set to claim victory with a service winner.

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