Former French Open champion Justine Henin-Hardenne said she always in a tense situation no matter how many finals she has been in and the French Open final against Mary Pierce Saturday is no exception.

Belgian Henin-Hardenne will take on surprising finalist Pierce, seeded 21, in the womens' final Saturday in a bid to regain her title won in 2003 here.

Although 23-year-old Henin-Hardenne has been crowned with three Grand Slam titles, she admitted that she would be very nervous ahead of such a final clash.

"I didn't sleep very long. It's logical at the end of a Grand Slam. It's always like this," said the former world number one, who stormed past Russian seventh seed Nadia Petrova 6-2, 6-3 in just over an hour Thursday to reach the final.

"For me, it's rather a good sign. If I hadn't been nervous, it wouldn't have been normal. But I feel rather good," she said.

"Even after five finals, I'm still as nervous as I was during my first. For me this one is very special," she said. She reached her first Grand Slam final in 2001 in Wimbledon where she lost to Venus Williams. "It's been a long time and I had so many doubts a few months ago: will I have another chance to play a Grand Slam final someday? A few months ago, I never thought I would be back at this level of the game."

Henin-Hardenne was handed an second round exit by Italian Tathiana Garbin last year. She didn't play due to the viral illness until Athens Olympic Games victory but was forced to be sidelined because of a right knee fracture suffered during practice session in December, 2004.

Henin-Hardenne has won three titles in Charleston, Warsaw and Berlin since her comeback starting in Miami where she finished last eight.

Source: Xinhua