It seems as though the French Open has only just started, but on men's semi-finals day it means that just four singles matches remain in both draws. Both the women's semi-finals on Thursday were closely-contested affairs. Maria Sharapova came from a set down to beat Eugenie Bouchard in the first game, before Simona Halep saw off Andrea Petkovic.
The results mean that either Sharapova will lift her second French Open title to add to her win from two years ago, or Halep will claim her maiden Grand Slam. The Romanian player is seeded fourth, while Sharapova is seventh, but does this tell the whole story? Here, Sports Mole looks at the match in a little more detail.
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Route to the final
Sharapova's route to the final has been about as good, in terms of preparation for the big match, as she could have hoped for. The first few rounds against unseeded opposition allowed her to build up some confidence with some big wins - especially the double bagel in the third round against Paula Ormaechea of Argentina.
Since then, however, she has had to come from behind against three consecutive opponents in Sam Stosur, Garbine Muguruza and Eugenie Bouchard, which has been a weakness that she has so far failed to iron out as the tournament has progressed. Going behind against a player in the world's top five will be a different story entirely.
Halep started strongly with a 6-0 6-2 win over Alisa Kleybanova, before being asked to up her game in a tricky contest with Heather Watson. In the fourth round the challenge increased once more with a match against Sloane Stephens, but the Romanian proved that she was more than up to it with a straight-sets win.
She saw off Svetlana Kuznetsova comfortably in the quarter-finals and was tested by Germany's Andrea Petkovic in the semis, winning her only tie-break of the tournament so far. However, she has not been taken to three sets so far, so she could either be more fresh than Sharapova or could struggle if it goes to a third.
Past meetings
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In terms of the head-to-heads between the players, Sharapova is comfortably in the lead from their three clashes on the WTA Tour. The Russian has won all of their encounters so far, and has the advantage of a clay-court win too.
They met twice on hard in 2012, with Sharapova taking them both in straight sets, but their last meeting was much closer. Crucially, too, it was only last month. Halep cruised into a one-set lead with a 6-1 win, before the Russian fought back to take it in three. Interestingly, this final could well go a similar way.
Halep can take encouragement from how close that meeting in Madrid was, but Sharapova has the advantage of a win even having been dismantled in the first set, which has happened to her already this tournament.
Prediction
This one is hard to call. Will it go with the player who has the experience at this level, the title already under her belt and the advantage in the head-to-heads, or will the seemingly in-form young pretender take the title in her first Slam final?
Halep has played just 103 games compared to Sharapova's 128 so far, which might well see her fresher as the match goes on, but SM can see this going with whoever takes the opening set. Sharapova will be determined to stop the rot of lost first sets, and she will probably be just too much for the Romanian on the big stage.
Matt Domm
