Paris, June 5:

Dinara Safina needs only one more win to join her older brother as a Grand Slam champion.

Dispensing with the come-from-behind drama of her previous two matches, Safina advanced to the French Open final by beating fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 6-2.

It’s the first berth in a major final for the 22-year-old Safina. Her brother, Marat Safin, is a former No 1 player who won the 2000 US Open and 2005 Australian Open. “I’m doing it for him and for myself,” Safina said.

Her opponent on Saturday will be the winner of the second semi-final, an all-Serb affair between No 2-seeded Ana Ivanovic and No 3 Jelena Jankovic.

Safina, seeded 13th, was one point from defeat against top-ranked Maria Sharapova in the fourth round and No 7-seeded Elena Dementieva in the quarter-finals before mounting comebacks.

But against the error-prone Kuznetsova, Safina jumped ahead 4-1 and led the rest of the way. By the second set she became so frustrated that after yet another errant shot, she angrily smacked a ball into the 12th row at the far end of the stadium.

The outburst failed to help. Safina broke in that game for a 3-2 lead and overcame two break points to win the next game. Soon she was serving for the match, and one last shanked forehand by Kuznetsova gave Safina the victory.

“It feels amazing,” Safina said. “I didn’t expect that I could get to the final. I think the less you think, the better it is. Because when you least expect it, the result comes.”

The men’s semi-finals on Friday will include the world’s three top-ranked players - No 1 Roger Federer, No 2 Rafael Nadal and No 3 Novak Djokovic - and Frenchman Gael Monfils, at No 59 the lowest-ranked men’s semi-finalist at Roland Garros since 1999.

Monfils plays Federer, who is seeking the only Grand Slam title he has yet to win. Djokovic faces Nadal, who is 26-0 at Roland Garros and two wins from a fourth consecutive French Open title.