~ Serena Williams lost quietly to the defending champ in two sets.

PARIS -- Befuddled all match, Serena Williams reacted to one flubbed backhand by spiking her racket to the court, drawing full-throated boos from spectators.

It was as spirited as Williams -- or the crowd -- got during her lopsided French Open quarterfinal loss to No. 1 Justine Henin, the one moment Tuesday when the last U.S. singles player in the tournament truly appeared to want to turn things around.

Too many mistakes and too little fight followed from Williams, though, and Henin beat her 6-4, 6-3 to close in on a third straight title at Roland Garros. This meeting bore no resemblance to their infamous 2003 French Open semifinal, a three-set tussle.

"All she had to do was show up," said Williams, who won the Australian Open in January for her eighth major championship. "I thought that she did well, but I've played against her when she's played even better."

Told of those comments, Henin took the high road.

"Well, it's her opinion," the Belgian said. "I thought I did a good job. I see it from my point of view, and I did everything I could to control the match."

She certainly did, and in the process extended her record streak to 31 consecutive sets won at the French Open.

Roger Federer dropped a set against No. 9 Tommy Robredo of Spain, but the worlds No. 1 player quickly righted himself to win 7-5, 1-6, 6-1, 6-2 and reach the semifinals at a record 12th major tournament in a row. The first set Tuesday was the 36th in a row won by Federer in Grand Slam action, eclipsing the Open era mark John McEnroe set in 1984.

Federer's opponent Friday will be No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, who reached the semifinals by beating No. 19 Guillermo Canas of Argentina 7-5, 6-4, 6-4 despite making 64 unforced errors to Canas' 15.

In the women's semifinals Thursday, Henin will face No. 4 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, who defeated No. 6 Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-5. The other women's semifinal pits No. 2 Maria Sharapova against No. 7 Ana Ivanovic of Serbia.