No.1 Ranking on the Line in Semis


MADRID, Spain - The Robin Robin phase is over. No more second chances. And on Saturday, Justine Henin-Hardenne and Maria Sharapova will fight for the No.1 ranking in the semifinals at the $3-million Sony Ericsson Championships.

The semifinal spots and top two player standings and were determined on Friday with four current or former world No.1 players left standing.

Amelie Mauresmo and Justine Henin-Hardenne placed Nos. 1 and 2 respectively in the Yellow Group, and in the Red Group, Maria Sharapova placed ahead of Kim Clijsters, setting up a match against Henin-Hardenne for the top Sony Ericsson WTA Tour ranking.

Whoever wins between Henin-Hardenne and Sharapova will finish the year as the world No.1, taking over the top spot from Mauresmo, who still has a chance to defend her Championships title.

After a 62 62 loss to Nadia Petrova in her opening match on Tuesday, Mauresmo rebounded with back-to-back three-set wins - first over Martina Hingis on Thursday, followed by a gutsy 46 76(3) 62 win over Justine Henin-Hardenne on Friday. Her win over Henin-Hardenne secured her spot in the semis and placed her first in her group.

"I'm just very, very happy and very proud about (coming back from Tuesday's loss)," Mauresmo said. "The next day, I went back on the court and let the frustration out and also came back yesterday and today from one set down to finally get the win."