The Williams sisters have between them won the last three tournaments here but Henin-Hardenne has shown that their power can be neutralised after beating Serena in the French Open semifinal before going on to swat Clijsters in the trophy match.

Aside from their recent Wimbledon domination the Williams have met in four of the past five Grand Slam finals with Serena winning on each occasion.

Henin-Hardenne's win over Clijsters in the French Open final was therefore largely seen as a welcome breath of fresh air but the presence of the burly Americans in the last four means there can be no talk of a real wind of change.

All four semifinalists roared through the opening week, but the going got considerably tougher in the quarters which saw only Henin-Hardenne emerge with a straightforward straight sets win, 6-2, 6-2 over Russian 33rd seed Svetlana Kuznetsova.

World number one Serena had to scrap before ousting old foe Jennifer Capriati 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 for her eighth straight success over her opponent.

Venus also needed a deciding set before defeating 1999 champion Lindsay Davenport 6-2, 2-6, 6-1.

And Clijsters had to grit her teeth after being stung by a bee before ending a dogged challenge from Italy's Silvia Farina Elia, the Belgian moving on 5-7, 6-0, 6-1.

While Venus and Clijsters vie for supremacy Venus leads their series to date 4-2 though they have never met on grass it is the semi pitting Serena against Justine Henin-Hardenne which primarily makes the mouth water.

Henin-Hardenne knocked the younger of the Williams sisters out of the French Open at the same stage last month, taking full advantage of the support of a wildly partisan crowd which booed Serena off court.

The burly American dissolved into tears afterwards and revenge here would be sweet.

"I have no nerves. I've been in this position so many times," said Serena after forcing herself to pull out all the stops against a fired-up Capriati.

And she will relish a chance to put Henin-Hardenne in her place on the grass, where the diminutive blonde from Liege is less comfortable than on clay though she did reach the 2001 final before bowing to Venus.

Henin-Herdenne admitted she was thinking about her Roland Garros win over Serena even before finishing off Kuznetsova.

"I just kept saying to myself: 'OK, if you are going to be aggressive against players like Serena, you have

to be aggressive against players like Kuznetsova."

But on grass she is aware she has her work cut out to advance to a second final.

"Probably it is going to be more difficult for me than the French Open," she said, calling Thursday's semifinal "a very difficult mission."

The Belgian has been at pains to say that there is no ill-feeling between the two protagonists after Paris, where Serena accused her of "lying and fabricating" in questioning several line calls and then holding up her hand to delay the American's serve.

"We are professionals, we are colleagues, I think it is better that way," said Henin-Hardenne, who had a brief chat with Serena in the locker rooms after their quarterfinal wins.

To date, Serena has won four of the pair's seven meetings but Henin-Hardenne has clinched two of her wins this year, at Charleston as well as the highly-charged affair at Roland Garros.

Venus said against Clijsters she would look to maintain the level she showed in her final set against Davenport.

"I expect her to play well she's obviously a very good player," said the fourth-seeded American.

Venus insists she is undeterred by having spent the past year largely in her younger sibling's shadow, prompting rumours she may soon quit the game.

"It's impossible to be in the winner's circle every time. You don't learn as much if you don't lose a few times."

The 23-year-old can live with losing to Serena but losing to Clijsters would be a different proposition.