Belgian duo Justine Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters [ Images ] set up a reprise of their French Open [ Images ] final clash after they won their semi-finals at the Ordina Open on Friday.

But while Clijsters was impressive in her 6-2, 6-1 defeat of German Barbara Rittner, French Open champion Henin-Hardenne was pushed to the limit as she came from a set and 4-1 down to beat Russian Nadia Petrova [ Images ] 5-7, 7-6, 6-3.

Clijsters, beaten by Henin-Hardenne in the Roland Garros [ Images ] final earlier this month, produced her best performance of the week to move to the verge of her first grasscourt title.

Rittner had already beaten two seeds, France's [ Images ] Amelie Mauresmo [ Images ] and Uzbekistan's Iroda Tulyaganova, in the tournament but could not deal with Clijsters' groundstrokes, which were at their powerful best.

Making light of a tricky wind, the top seed cruised through the first set and then stepped up another gear in the second to reach her eighth final of the year.

"I think today I was able to dominate and hit the shots I wanted to," Clijsters said.

"I still feel like there is work to do, I can improve a lot, but it's coming."

For a set and a half, Henin-Hardenne looked as if her honeymoon period as Belgium's first Grand Slam champion was about to end as Petrova outplayed her with a superb all-court performance.

Dominating the points from the baseline, the Russian showed a particularly good touch at the net and, after taking the first set, she raced to a 3-0 lead in the second.

The Russian maintained led 4-1 and held two points for a 5-3 lead. But, as the errors started to creep into her game, Henin-Hardenne hit back, snatching the set on a tie-break.

Once she had broken in the second game of the final set, the result was never in doubt and a relieved Henin-Hardenne eased to victory.

"She played well but I didn't play my best tennis today," Henin-Hardenne said.

"But tomorrow I will play my fourth match on grass and I think this is great preparation for Wimbledon [ Images ]. Winning matches like this gives me a lot of confidence."

STEP CLOSER

In the men's event, defending champion Sjeng Schalken moved a step closer to a second straight Den Bosch title as he beat Spaniard Tommy Robredo [ Images ] 7-5, 6-4 to reach the semi-finals.

The first set was decided by a break in the 11th game and after that the Dutchman's consistency forced Robredo into too many errors.

In the semi-finals he will play compatriot Raemon Sluiter, who beat another Dutchman John van Lottum 6-4, 7-5.

Top seed Jiri Novak suffered a shock defeat as he was beaten by fellow Czech Jan Vacek.

Vacek, who also won their only previous meeting, came from a break down in the second set to win 6-4, 6-4 and set up a clash with seventh seed Arnaud Clement [ Images ].

Clement, runner-up to Schalken last year, reached the semi-finals by beating Spaniard Fernando Vicente 4-6, 6-3, 6-0.