PARIS A double Hoodoo lurks in top seed Martina Hingis' path as she bids to slay French open rival Jennifer Capriati on Thursday and reach the Women's Singles Final.

Hingis has been labouring under a something of a jinx at Roland Garros, having already lost finals here in 1997 and 1999, making the tournament the only grand slam singles crown she has yet to win.

Worse still, Capriati deprived the Swiss miss of her first grand slam singles crown of any kind in two and a half years when the U.S. fourth seed upset her in the Australian open final last January.

That was Capriati's first slam success, fully 11 years after she burst onto the senior circuit here to become the youngest ever semi-finalist at a grand slam aged just 14.

Having steered herself gingerly away from the choppy waters of teenage burnout -- a concept foreign to Hingis, who won her five slams by the time she was 18 -- Capriati has become the player to beat this season.

The 1992 Olympic Champion beat Hingis again in the final at Charleston and with final appearances at Oklahoma, Miami and Berlin she has pocketed a million dollars already this year, AFP said.

Capriati, now up to fourth in the world, began her long march back towards the summit by winning the WTA event in Strasbourg two years ago -- and she has also looked the part here, even if she did miss three match points before swatting us sixth seed Serena Williams in three sets to book her meeting with Hingis.

Capriati said she had almost no recollection of her 1990 campaign but said this time she was keen to see her months of hard work pay off against the top seed.

"I've had to work so hard to get here -- it's made it that much sweeter for me. Everything's different. I'm a lot older.

"I have a grand slam already. Maybe now I feel like I can win it more than back then."

Capriati said Hingis could expect more of the same treatment she receoved in Melbourne and Charleston.

"I'm going to be aggressive, but controlled aggression, patient. I'm expecting her to thrown some different stuff at me.

"Ee'll see what happens," said the 25-year-old Florida-based New Yorker.

Hingis, for her part, was also confident after reaching the last four with a 6-1, 6-4 blasting of unseeded Italian Francesca Schiavone.

"Mentally and physically I feel 100 percent," said Hingis, who is fresher for not playing the doubles this year with reigning singles champion Mary Pierce, who ironically ousted her in the semis on the way to the title last year.

Only Sandrine Testud of France has taken a set off Hingis so far and the Swiss commented that "You can say I haven't really been tested.

"But it was nice to go through a draw like this."

Hingis, still without a title since Dubai in February, added she was happy she elected to recall her mother Melanie Molitor as coach.

"I couldn't have made a better decision. Everything is scheduled. I don't have to worry about anything from waking up in the morning to setting the alarm," said Hingis.

Of Capriati, she said she was ready to turn the tables this time round.

"I think I've improved over the last time I played against her. The one in Australia she was more into it after I had played both Williams sisters back to back."

The second semi-final is an all-belgian teenage affair between Justine Henin, 19, and 17-year-old Kim Clijsters, who have produced their best performances to date here and who have given their country a double boost after they became the first Belgian women ever to make it this far at a slam.

Henin, seeded 14th, pounded unseeded 17-year-old Russian Lina Krasnoroutskaya 6-1, 6-2 to make the last four without dropping a single set while 12th seed Clijsters ousted Hungarian qualifier Petra Mandula 6-1, 6-3.

Both teen terrors have three WTA tour titles under their belts and Clijsters said she was relishing the tie against Henin.

"We're tennis players and rivals as well as friends. When we're on court we're there to win," she said, sentiments echoed by Henin.

"It's great for Belgian tennis," added Clijsters.