Berlin ? Serena Williams reached her first clay-court final, and Jennifer Capriati fell two victories short of regaining the world’s No. 1 ranking by losing to Justine Henin on Saturday in the German Open.

Henin turned the match around after a two-hour rain break, beating Capriati 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 in the first semifinal.

Williams reached the final against Henin with a 6-3, 6-2 rout of unseeded Anna Smashova at the next-to-last tuneup for the French Open.

Capriati led 7-5, 2-2 against Henin, the world’s eighth-ranked player, when a rainstorm delayed the match. After the long delay, Capriati won only one of 11 games, serving two double faults that cost her the final set.

“It seemed like a different match afterward, almost a different day. Everything slowed down. That favored her,” Capriati said of the rain break.

Williams, who ran her record to 18-1, overpowered Smashova in just 71 minutes.

“I just think of it as another tournament that I’d like to do well at,” Williams said. “I’m satisfied with the way I’m moving on clay.”