In a sterling display of power tennis, Pierce rang up 28 winners in the one hour, 21 minute contest, dictating with her serve and blowtorch return. The tall blonde was rarely threatened in the day, winning the vast majority of their short rallies by painting every line in site.

"I was like almost having a breakdown 20 minutes before the match," Pierce laughed. "But when I was on the court and hitting the ball, they were just going in. Sometimes I missed them wide by [an inch] and they were going on the line. I even shanked a ball and it just went in deep for 'a winner.' I was like, 'Wow, okay, this is my day.' Take advantage of this."

Most importantly, the 30-year-old Pierce absolutely dominated Davenport's second serves, as the American was only able to win 29 percent of those points and consequently, was never able to dictate play.

"She is playing well," Davenport said. "When she's on, she does hit the lines a lot. I never got into a rhythm of ever controlling a point. I always felt like I was always trying to get balls in and never really felt all that much control with moving the balls around/It was more like, 'Oh, gosh, hope this goes in. She started off great. So while she was playing very well, I didn't have the tools today to be capable of really challenging her and getting her out of her strike zone.

Amazingly, Pierce came into the contest with an 2-8 record against the American and was 1-2 on clay against her. But Davenport -who had come back from the depths to upend Kim Clijsters in the previous round- never found her stride on the day, while Pierce was calm and cozy on her beloved Court Philippe Chatrier.

Pierce, who won the title here in 2000, now has a legitimate shot at winning the title, even though 2003 Roland Garros champion Justine Henin Hardenne will be favored by many. Pierce is an entirely different player on these courts, seeming to know exactly where each ball will go and what strategies to employ against every style of player.

"I was like 'Fly Like an Eagle - like gliding in the sky like an eagle," Pierce said. "I was very relaxed. I could release my shots. I was attacking, aggressive, and that's why I really started to build up a lot of pressure."

Should Pierce beat Likhovtseva and Henin best Nadia Petrova, Davenport would gives the Frenchwoman a chance.

"Justine has an incredible clay court record. I would think that Mary would be a heavy underdog. But you never know if she has the crowd and the ball sitting there. But Justine does an incredible job of getting balls back in and really mixing it up. The ball's not going to be just right at Mary's strike zone, so she's going to have to play well."

Pierce reached the final here in 1994, falling to Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario and in 2000, upset Monica Seles and Martina Hingis before wasting Conchita Martinez in the final.

Had she not suffered ankle, back and abdominal injuries right after her title run, she may have reached the number one ranking. But she's kept plugging and appears to have rediscovered her game at age 30.