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The battle of the beauties
The beauty quotient, as expected, was quite high at this year's French Open, with blondes like Maria Sharapova and Caroline Wozniacki leading the stakes.
Germany's Julia Goerges not only impressed with her tennis but also stole the show with her cute looks. Fittingly, she is called "Gorgeous Georges".
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China's Li Na and Belarussian Victoria Azarenka also sizzled with the heat in Paris.
Britian's Pippa Middleton, sister of Catherine, the Dutchess of Cambridge, gave fans plenty to ogle at with her presence in the stands at Roland Garros.
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Photographs: Reuters
Maria Sharapova
Russian bombshell Maria Sharapova's hopes of completing a career Grand Slam will have to wait for at least another year after she was beaten 6-4, 7-5 by Chinese sixth seed Li Na in the semi-finals.
Despite her disappointment, the Russian seventh seed put a positive spin on her performance in the French capital.
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"This was a great result for me here. I got to the semi-finals here after not being in this stage of a Grand Slam for a long time," Sharapova told a news conference after her first last-four outing at a major since winning the 2008 Australian Open.
"I'm quite proud of what I've achieved here but I still feel like I have a lot of work to do.
Julia Goerges
Germany's Julia Goerges came into the tournament with some high expectations, having registered back-to-back victories over world number one Wozniacki, at Stuttgart and Madrid respectively in the space of two weeks.
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But she could progress only as far as the third round, where she was beaten by Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli.
However, one is sure, she is definitely one of the players to watch out for in the coming years.
Pippa Middleton
Pippa Middleton, more famously known as the sister of Catherine, Dutchess of Cambridge, added to the glamour stakes off the court.
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Not so long ago, Pippa's white dress, which she wore at the wedding of her sister to Prince Williams, was the cyncosure of all eyes. Her tightly-shaped derriere made her an instant celebrity overnight and ever since then she has found the media covering her every move.
Caroline Wozniacki
World number one Caroline Wozniacki's wait for a Grand Slam continues.
Wozniacki suffered another Grand Slam nightmare. She was comprehensively beaten by Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova in the third round.
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Wozniacki, whose best Grand Slam performance was reaching the US Open final in 2009, left the court without looking at the crowd, her eyes staring at the clay as her wait for a first Grand Slam title continued.
Ana Ivanovic
Former French Open champion Ana Ivanovic was reduced to tears wondering what had gone wrong after a first-round defeat at Roland Garros three years after winning the title.
The 20th-seeded Serb, who reached top spot in the world rankings when she prevailed on the Paris clay in 2008, lost to unheralded Swede Johanna Larsson.
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"I'm very upset I lost, you know, because even though like I was injured, I felt like I was playing well," she told reporters as tears filled her eyes.
"I wish I knew (what went wrong since 2008). I try to look back and see what I've done then and to do the same things. I'm just trying to work it out," she said.
Li Na
China's Li Na will try to become the first Asian to win a Grand Slam singles title when she takes on holder Francesca Schiavone in Saturday's final.
Italian Schiavone, bidding to become the sixth player to successfully retain the Paris clay court title since tennis went professional in 1968, will attempt to nullify Li's hard, flat strokes with her mix of top spin and slice.
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"This is something important for Chinese tennis. They will be broadcasting the match live on television," sixth seed Li said.
Victoria Azarenka
Victoria Azarenka had a smooth sailing to the quarter-finals till she came up against the might of Li Na in the last eight.
The fourth seed Belarussian was no match for her Chinese opponent and went down tamely.
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The 21-year-old has never progressed beyond the quarter-finals in any of the Grand Slams.
Jelena Jankovic
Serbian Jelena Jankovic has also slipped down the radar in recent months.
She gave defending champion Francesca Schiavone a scare in the quarter-finals before losing 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.
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The Italian fifth seed powered through the opening set but Jankovic, a three-times semi-finalist at Roland Garros, took charge in the second as Schiavone failed to keep up the pace in a high-quality match.
Schiavone was forced to run in every direction in a tense decider, eventually prevailing after two hours and 38 minutes when Jankovic failed to retrieve a volley.
Daniela Hantuchova
Daniela Hantuchova made everyone sit up and take notice as she humbled top seed Wozniacki in the third round.
But she could not make it count and lost in the very next round, beaten by Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova.