Maria Sharapova for the third straight match brought out all of those fighting skills to the forefront again, while Simona Halep just continued her breezy, easy path into the final of the French Open.
Sharapova had her back against the wall in the semifinal against impressive youngster Eugenie Bouchard, and the Russian had to find that extra venom and skill that she has time and again brought out of the locker one more time to eventually overcome her Canadian opponent 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.
"I would love to win those matches in two sets, but I always feel like I put in the work to be ready to play whatever it takes," Sharapova said. "If it takes three hours to win the match in three sets, I will be ready for that.
"I think when you're forced to be in those situations when you're either not playing good or you find yourself in a losing position, I just don't want to give up, because I work too hard to just let something go and let a match go.
"You put so much effort, you and your team, to get to this position. If some things are not working out, I don't just want to quit in the middle ... That's the type of philosophy that I play with."
Sharapova has certainly proved she is not going to be easy to put away, coming back from a set down in all of her last three matches at Roland Garros – against Samantha Stosur, Garbine Muguruza and finally Bouchard.
Bouchard will certainly be wondering what might have been, had a couple of points just gone her way at the end of the second set. But the reality is, it is a second straight semifinal loss in a Grand Slam for the 20-year-old, after her defeat to Li Na at the Australian Open earlier this year, even if she did extremely well to reach the last four in both of those majors.
"I think it was a tough battle, which is what I expected," Bouchard said. "I mean, I felt the whole match I didn't play as well as I have played earlier in the tournament.
"It's always disappointing to be a little bit off. I felt like I was trying to do what I wanted to do, which was be aggressive, go for my shots. But often I constructed the point well and then didn't finish it as well as I could. So, I'm just going to work on that next time."
In the second semifinal, Halep just had too much in her armoury for Andrea Petkovic, as the Romanian continued her progress in the French Open without dropping a single set courtesy a 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) victory over her German opponent.
"I'm very emotional and I feel amazing now knowing I will play the final here in Paris," Halep said. "Andrea was very tough and she is a good player, but I was a little bit stronger in the end and am so happy to get through.
"I tried my best and did everything I could to win this match and want to thank everyone here today, because you all helped me win. I have a lot of confidence in myself and am looking forward to the final now and hopefully playing another good match."
