Justine Henine-Hardenne's opponent was well on her way toward a huge upset Friday when something curious happened. Jumpy Jelena Jankovic of Serbia started arguing with the chair umpire.
And from then on, it was a mismatch.
Henin-Hardenne showed the steady mental and physical approach of a champion while Jankovic melted down, winning the final 10 games for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 victory that put her into the U.S. Open final.
``I came back from nowhere today,'' Henin-Hardenne said. ``I feel lucky to be in the final.''
Henin-Hardenne became the first woman to reach all four Grand Slam finals in a year since Martina Hingis in 1997. She did it despite 12 double-faults, all in the first two sets _ she had just 10 in her first five matches combined.
The second-seeded Belgian overcame her aching back, and now will try for her sixth major victory Saturday. She'll play the winner of the later semifinal between No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo of France and No. 3 Maria Sharapova of Russia.
``I hope I have a good recovery. I'll fight 200 per cent tomorrow night,'' she said.
Toronto's Sharon Fichman, the 13th seed in girls singles, lost her quarter-final match, dropping a 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 decision to Katerina Vankova of the Czech Republic.
So distraught over her poor play earlier this year that she almost quit tennis, the 19th-seeded Jankovic kicked a ball over the net, bounced her racket and tossed her hair after bad shot.
That was while she was still ahead. Then, she really let herself get distracted.
Leading 4-2 in the second set and one point from winning the game, she began arguing with umpire Enric Molina after her first serve was called out.
``Did you see it?'' she asked a couple of times.
Molina said yes, telling her, ``I'm not going to lie to you.''
``I'm not a machine,'' he added.
Flustered, Jankovic didn't call for an instant-replay challenge and double-faulted.
After that, it was all Henin-Hardenne.
``I was a bit nervous at the beginning of the match. She did put a lot of pressure on me. I could feel she had a lot of motivation . . . and I wasn't in a good rhythm,'' Henin-Hardenne said. ``That was the kind of match I would have lost a year or two years ago.''
The men had the day off. In Saturday's semifinal, No. 1 Roger Federer of Switzerland plays No. 7 Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, followed by ninth-seeded American Andy Roddick taking on unseeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny.
American Martina Navratilova also got a break. She and Bob Bryan moved into the mixed doubles final when their semifinal opponents withdrew because of an injury.
Navratilova has said this will be her final pro tournament, meaning her last match will be a chance for her 59th Grand Slam title.
