Paris ? Two comeback trails will converge Saturday when Mary Pierce and Justine Henin-Hardenne meet in the French Open final.

Both former champions have rebounded from ailments that stalled their careers, and both easily defeated Russian opponents Thursday. First, Henin-Hardenne beat Nadia Petrova, 6-2, 6-3, and then Pierce won even more quickly, eliminating Elena Likhovtseva, 6-1, 6-1.

That set the stage for an appealing showdown between Pierce, who claims French citizenship, and Henin-Hardenne, who grew up in the French-speaking part of Belgium. Each seeks her second Roland Garros title.

“A fantastic final,” Henin-Hardenne said. “It’s going to be another great day.”

Pierce won the title in 2000, then fell out of the top 100 in 2001 because of injuries. Henin-Hardenne won in 2003, then missed much of last year because of a blood virus that left her bedridden.

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer will meet today in a men’s semifinal showdown touted as the match of the tournament, if not the year. It features the game’s top two players in peak form: Federer, entrenched at No. 1 and bidding to complete a career Grand Slam at age 23; and Nadal, the teen sensation who has won five tournaments this year. The other men’s semifinal features two first-time Grand Slam semifinalists: unseeded Argentine Mariano Puerta and No. 12 Nikolay Davydenko of Russia.