Predicting the outcome of the women's event here in Paris has been a tricky task for the past few years but for all the shocks and surprises, the cream invariably rises to the top.

And while the presence of Italy's Sara Errani in the last four was unexpected when the tournament began, the French Open will have two worthy semi-finals.

With all due respect to the first semi-final between Errani and 2010 runner-up Sam Stosur, it is the second – a repeat of last year's Wimbledon final between Czech Petra Kvitova and Russia's Maria Sharapova – that has the makings of a classic.

World No.2 Sharapova has won three of her five meetings with Kvitova, including the last two in the semi-finals at the Australian Open and on clay in Stuttgart, but it is their meeting at Wimbledon last summer, when Kvitova stunned the former champion at SW19, that could be of most importance to both players.

"At Wimbledon, it was something special for me," Kvitova said. "It was my first final, I was No.8 and she was the favourite. I didn't have anything to lose, so I just played my game."

Yesterday, Kvitova misfired in the first set, hit top form in the second, stuttered at the start of the third and then roared back to beat Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. Shvedova, ranked No.142 but as high as No.29 two years ago before being struck down by a knee injury, came through qualifying and she led 4-2 in the decider before Kvitova hit back to win the last four games."

Sharapova was just too good for Kaia Kanepi, the No.23 seed, an Estonian with plenty of power but lacking the necessary tools to hurt the Russian, a winner on clay in Charleston and Stuttgart this year.

The Russian was a semi-finalist in Paris last year and has now reached at least the last four in four of the past five grand-slam events. Having dropped just one set on her way to the semi-finals, her form is good but she admits she will have to be close to her best to reach the final here for the first time.

"She's a tough opponent, someone that I have had good success against in our last couple of previous meetings but they are always tough matches," she said. "When she's confident and when she's [really] hitting the ball, she's quite dangerous, so the match is going to be another level. I hope that I can raise my level, too."

Australian Stosur, a semi-finalist for the third time in four years, is a big favourite to beat Errani, who will have to guard against nerves in what will be her first grand-slam semi-final.