Justine Henin has admitted that the pressures of standing on the brink of history caused her to lose a seemingly insurmountable lead in the all-Belgian women's semi-final.

For much of the match it looked like Henin would become the first Belgian to reach a Grand Slam final, but Kim Clijsters produced a remarkable comeback for a 2-6 7-5 6-3 victory to reach the French Open final.

Yet only half an hour before, Henin led by a set and 4-2, and was 15-40 ahead on the Clijsters serve.

Had she been able to claim one of those points for a double break in the second set, it is hard to imagine Henin would have lost the match.

But, as so often seems to happen, with the finish line in sight, doubts crept into Henin's mind and Clijsters managed to wrestle away the ascendancy.

"It was not a physical problem; it was in my head," said Henin.

"I was becoming defensive when I had been attacking before - I gave away today's match.

"I stopped being aggressive, I stopped going to the net, I stopped playing my game."

Clijsters, who is not 18 until Friday, was delighted: "I couldn't wish myself a better birthday than this one," she said.

And she felt that it was that crucial point when she clung on in the second set that was the turning point.

Doubts

"When I was 4-2 down and I won that game to go 4-3 down, I felt she was making more mistakes - she had a very tough doubles match yesterday and she was tired.

"At that moment I felt I was getting closer and that I had a chance to win it."

But Clisters admitted that she had her doubts earlier on.

"Justine just played too good for me, it's not like I was playing bad in the beginning.