PARIS — Ana Ivanovic let out a girlish squeal and covered her face, delighted with what she had just achieved.

And this was before the young Serb learned she had clinched the No. 1 ranking for the first time.

Ivanovic advanced to the French Open final for the second year in a row, sweeping the final three games to beat Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 Thursday. Ivanovic's opponent Saturday will be No. 13-seeded Dinara Safina, who will be trying to join older brother Marat Safin as a Grand Slam champion.

Ivanovic also seeks her first major title. But at 20, she's already assured of supplanting Maria Sharapova atop the rankings next week.

She said she was unaware the semifinal victory earned her the No. 1 spot until she was told after the match.

"Being No. 1 is a dream come true for me," Ivanovic said. "It was a big surprise because I was so focused on the tournament."

That's still the case. She seeks a breakthrough in Grand Slam finals after finishing as the runner-up to Justine Henin at the 2007 French Open and to Sharapova at the 2008 Australian Open.

Nerves sabotaged Ivanovic's chances a year ago at Roland Garros, and she won only three games in a dismal performance.

"I feel like a different player coming into this French Open," Ivanovic said. "A lot of experience I gained from that final and the final in Australia, so I really hope I can step up this time and make one more step."

In the men's semifinals today, No. 1-seeded Roger Federer was to play unseeded Frenchman Gael Monfils, and No. 3 Novak Djokovic was to face No. 2 Rafael Nadal.

Safina finds herself in uncharted territory. The Russian's best previous Grand Slam showings were quarterfinal finishes in 2006 at Roland Garros and the U.S. Open, and she knows she's lucky to be in the final after fending off a match point in consecutive rounds.

Her semifinal victory was more straightforward. Dominating with an aggressive approach from the baseline, Safina beat an error-prone Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 6-2.

"God kept me in this tournament," Safina said. "So I said, 'OK, now I'm not going to be passive anymore. I have to be aggressive, because there will be no third chance."'

No woman has won a Grand Slam title after saving match point in two matches, but there's family history suggesting a good omen for Safina. Her brother fended off a match point to beat Federer in the semifinals of the 2005 Australian Open, then won the title three nights later.