After nearly two weeks of scintillating tennis and surprises, the women's draw has been whittled down to four.  In the bottom half, it is Ana Ivanovic and Lucie Safarova who will clash for the right to move one step closer to becoming the 2015 Roland Garros champion.

Both women are playing excellent tennis coming into this match, so it is difficult to determine which one has the edge in this contest.  Ivanovic is definitely the more powerful ball-striker of the two.  She has more pop on her first serve, but the crux of her game is the forehand.  When at her best, that is an effective weapon against any opponent.  Her backhand, traditionally the weaker wing, has also more than held up well over the course of this tournament and on multiple occasions has served as an offensive tool.  Furthermore, she appears to be hitting the drop shot fairly well, which when combined with the firepower she produces from the baseline, can make for a lethal combination. 

Like Ivanovic, however, Safarova is quickly proving that she is able to play a devastating brand of tennis as well.  Her shots may not have quite the same level of zip as the Serb's, but she has a game that can be just as effective and arguably even more so on the clay surface.  The 13th seed has always enjoyed the advantages on serve that come with being left-handed, but it has been her swinging, cross-court forehand that has proved so beneficial in helping her to wrong-foot opponents and open up angles.  In addition to that, she has a solid and aggressive backhand, a decent feel for the drop shot, and more skill at the net than Ivanovic.  If she brings her best to the table, this match will hardly be a walk in the park for the former No. 1.

But while it will be interesting to see how their respective games match up on Thursday, the more intriguing consideration in this match is going to be which woman is mentally the best prepared to cope with this situation.  As with their games, however, it is hard to know which woman has the advantage.

Ivanovic has been here before.  She reached back-to-back finals in Paris in 2007 and 2008 and won the title on the latter occasion.  She also has generally more experience playing these types of matches than Safarova, since the Czech is contesting only her second major semifinal, her first coming at Wimbledon last season.  In addition to that, as evidenced by her higher ranking, it is Ivanovic who has consistently been playing a superior level of tennis on a weekly basis.

For all of the positives in Ivanovic's corner, though, Safarova has her own reasons to feel confident.  For starters, she is the underdog, which means she does not have to play with the same level of pressure and expectations as the seventh seed.  Furthermore, as anxious as she may be to reach her first final at a major, it could be Ivanovic, who has traveled a long road back towards the top, who will be guilty of wanting it too badly and allow nerves to negatively affect her game.  Finally, it is the Czech who leads their head-to-head 5-3, with one of her five victories coming last year at this tournament.  Securing a victory this time will by no means be easy, but at least Safarova already knows it can be and has been done.

Both Ivanovic and Safarova will take to the court knowing that they have achieved victory and can achieve victory against each other.  The odds probably slightly favor Ivanovic in this latest installment of their rivalry, but it is a very tight encounter to call.

For all that she has looked wobbly and on the verge of defeat on more than one occasion, pre-tournament favorite Serena Williams still remains in the hunt for her 20th major singles title.  She will next face Timea Bacsinszky for the chance to contest the championship match.

If everybody is being honest, it is no secret that the odds and most people heavily favor Williams getting through this match.  A person could count on one hand the number of players capable of hanging with and possibly defeating Williams when at her best, and Bacsinszky is not on that list.  But that is not to detract from the Swiss player.  After losing nearly three years of her career to injury, she has done an inspiring job of climbing back up the rankings.  She has a good serve and is solid from the ground with a respectable amount of power behind her shots.  She also does well covering the court, possesses ample variety in her game, and is always willing to take the initiative in the point when given the opportunity.  She has the talent to build on what she done here in Paris and is truly a player in the ascendancy.

Unfortunately for Bacsinszky, as is so often the case in the American's matches, it is Williams who is in the driver's seat.  The majority of analysts and fans agree that she has the greatest serve in the history of the women's game, and there are few players who can compete with her weight of shot from the ground.  In addition to that, there is no real safe place to go against Williams, who hits exceptionally well on the run.  Furthermore, the top seed does a phenomenal job covering the court, and she is frequently the one forcing the opposition to consistently hit multiple good shots just to win a single point.

As if her physical attributes and talents were not enough, Bacsinszky must also contend with the aura that surrounds Williams.  The current No. 1 is the most decorated active player on tour and a legend of the sport.  As such, she has far more experience playing a match of this magnitude than the Swiss.  She has already survived more than a few challenges in this tournament and knows that more often than not, she is able to find another gear when she needs it most.

With so much going against her, it is hard to find any sources from which Bacsinszky might draw the necessary confidence to help her pull off what would be a huge upset.  There are some threads of hope, however.  For one, she has already played and defeated in this tournament two of the sport's other biggest hitters in Madison Keys and Petra Kvitova, so she is unlikely to be stunned by the pace of Williams.  Secondly, the Swiss knows that Williams has not played her best throughout this event, and just as she made Kvitova pay for an error-strewn performance, she could possibly do the same to Williams.  Lastly, although she has lost her only two previous meetings with the American, including earlier this year at Indian Wells, the first sets of both matches were extremely close.  If she could somehow get over the hump and actually take the first set, she might plant more of a seed of doubt in the mind of Williams and raise her own belief that the result in this third encounter could go her way.

Of course, this result going in Bacsinszky's favor is a long shot.  Virtually all of the chips are firmly stacked in the American's corner.  Unless Williams puts in a lackluster performance or the Swiss plays the match of her life, expect the top seed to advance for the chance to vie for her third Roland Garros title.