Serb duo eye Roland Garros final

Serbia's rise as a power in world tennis could be confirmed on Thursday when Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic bid to set up a date in the final of the French Open.

While renowned heavyweights such as the United States and Australia are struggling to produce much fresh talent in either the men's or women's game, there is a conveyor belt of up-and-coming stars pouring out of eastern Europe.

"Wherever you go, it's just Serbians all over the place, winning all these matches!" said Jankovic. "It's just incredible. I'm so proud of that and hopefully we can keep it going."

In the men's draw, Serbia have Novak Djokovic, who is sixth in the world rankings, while Jankovic and Ivanovic are both in the top 10 of the women's charts.

Neither women has made it to the final of a grand slam - Jankovic, 22, was a semi-finalist in last year's US Open while Ivanovic, 19, made the quarters here at Roland Garros in 2005.

That could all change on Thursday when they play one after the other on Philippe Chatrier court in the semi-finals of the second major of the year.

Jankovic's task is the tougher, with the fourth seed having the sizeable job of eliminating Justine Henin, the top seed and champion here for the past two years.

However, the in-form Jankovic has already knocked out Venus Williams and Nicole Vaidisova this year, and has won three tournaments on the tour in 2007.

Seventh seed Ivanovic, meanwhile, takes on Maria Sharapova, the world number two who has made it this far even though she still claims she is like a "cow on ice on clay".

Ivanovic added: "It's very exciting to see all of us doing so well, especially since we are all very young. We all have a lot of years in front of us and many possibilities."