Hello and welcome to LIVE coverage from this the first of the women's semi-finals between sixth seed Li Na and seventh seed Maria Sharapova

So Li Na is through to the French Open final where she will face either defending champion Francesca Schiavone or French 11th seed Marion Bartoli.

SHARAPOVA 4-6 5-7 - GAME, SET & MATCH - A double fault from Sharapova is a sad way to finish this clash as she slaps down 10th double to hand Li a place in her second consecutive Grand Slam final

SHARAPOVA 4-6 5-6 - The Russian, under pressure from some huge forehands by Li, hits a cross court forehand well wide across court to hand the Chinese sixth seed TWO MATCH POINTS ...

SHARAPOVA 4-6 5-6 - Li holds to love to leave herself potentially just one game away from the final once again, Sharapova will have to serve to stay in it and force the tie-break

SHARAPOVA 4-6 5-5 - Sharapova dinks a neat drop shot over the net only to see Li get up to it. A forehand volley winner across into the open court seals the point and gets her off the mark at 0-15 and the Russian goes on to hold when Li pulls a forehand well wide across court. That was a great game for Sharapova who holds to level up once again

SHARAPOVA 4-6 4-5 - Sharapova levels the game at deuce only to hit long to hand Li a game point. And she grabs it with both hands when a shorter return from Sharapova sits up invitingly. Li dispatches it accordingly for a forehand winner and the Chinese sixth seed is now just one game away from a first French Open final. Sharapova will have to serve to stay in it after the change of ends

SHARAPOVA 4-6 4-4 - BREAK - A first double for Sharapova in this set is the start of a poor game and Li goes on to earn herself a break back point with a backhand return right into the feet of the Russian. She manages to get a racquet on it but can only hit into the net and a second double in the game from Sharapova hands the break back to Li. It's back on serve in this second set

SHARAPOVA 4-6 4-3 - "Anything you can do ..." Li also posts a love service game as she keeps the pressure on Sharapova, who switches hands in order to reach a ball out wide only to send her left-handed return wide.

SHARAPOVA 4-6 4-2 - Is there anyone better at turning things around that Maria Sharapova? Having really battled on serve in the first set, the Russian has only dropped two points behind her serve in the second as she eases through another love hold to maintain her break lead

SHARAPOVA 4-6 3-2 - A second double from Li followed by a blsitering backhand return of serve winner down the line from Sharapova put real pressure on the Chinese player and she goes on to hand the Russian two more break points. Li saves the first with a forehand winner across court while Sharapova wastes the second by just pulling her backhand return wide off a second serve and Li gets out of the game with a hold when Sharapova sends another backhand sailing out

SHARAPOVA 4-6 3-1 - Sharapova posts another comfortable service hold, dropping just the one point before slamming the door shut with a solid second serve that Li can only return long

SHARAPOVA 4-6 2-1 - Li recovers her form on serve to hold and remain just the one break down in this second set, throwing in her first ace of the day in the process. THE first ace in fact, Sharapova hasn't found one yet

SHARAPOVA 4-6 2-0 - Much better from Sharapova on serve as she races through a love to consolidate the early break in this second set

SHARAPOVA 4-6 1-0 - BREAK - Li saves a first break point with a huge forehand winner across court, and Sharapova goes on to squander another with a forehand wide down the line. And she also wastes a third with a backhand return of serve into the net off a second serve. The Russian is gifted a fourth chance though and this time she gets it when Li slaps down her first double fault

SHARAPOVA 4-6 - SET - Sharapova seems to have lost all confidence on her serve and another double fault hardly helps matters as Li earns herself two set points. The first goes begging with a forehand return long. And she appears well set to save the second when she gets Li on the round around the baseline. But a shorter, defensive ball from the Chinese player gets caught in the wind and just moves away from Sharapova after the bounce. And the Russian hits the top of the net and bounces wide.

SHARAPOVA 4-5 - BREAK - The wind is gusty today and both players seem to be struggling most when they are at a particular end of the court, to the right of the umpire. Li hits a series of forehands long to hand Sharapova two break back points and although she saves the first with a forehand winner down the line, Sharapova finds a forehand return of serve winner on the second to get things back on serve again

SHARAPOVA 3-5 - BREAK- Ouch! Sharapova doesn't help herself with consecutive double faults, her second and third of the day, and Li goes on to help herself to two break points by ending a 22-stroke rally with an inside-out backhand winner across court. And a fourth double fault hands Li the break that also leaves the Chinese player serving for the first set

SHARAPOVA 3-4 - BREAK - Sharapova earns herself another break back point with some huge defensive before she managed to step inside the baseline and unleash a big forehand across court that Li can only return into the net. And this time the Russian does break back with a series of cross court backhands that eventually ended in Li desperately hitting long. We're back on serve in this opening set

SHARAPOVA 2-4 - Sharapova leaves the ball short after a complete mis-hit but it has enough spin on it to prevent Li from getting to it in time to return it. A fantastic forehand from Li later in the game prompts the Russian to hit into the net on the run as Li levels at deuce. Sharapova saves a break point with another great serve, that Li returns into the net, and the Russian goes on to hold with a blistering backhand across court on the angle after a mis-hit return from Li

SHARAPOVA 1-4 - Sharapova pushes Li to deuce, landing a forehand right on the sideline for a winner. But again she cannot turn it into a break back and Li goes on to hold when Sharapova hits a foerhand return into the net