Full-page colour pictures of the two women covered several dailies as Dutch and French-language newspapers revelled in their success, with both sides proud to be Belgian in the linguistically-divided country.

"Tomorrow will be a new day for Belgian sport," Le Soir said in an editorial. "Justine Henin or Kim Clijsters will be the first player from our country to win a Grand Slam and we have to pinch ourselves to believe it.

"A Grand Slam victory for a tennis player is like winning the Tour de France for a cyclist or an Olympic gold medal for an athlete or a swimmer."

"It's fabulous," read the front page of La Derniere Heure. "A woman's final 100 percent Belgian. We dreamed of it, but it has become reality," the paper said.

King Albert and Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt will attend the final in Paris on Saturday. A giant screen in Brussels's famous Grand Place will show the match.

"This deserves a medal," president of the International Olympic Committee Jacques Rogge, himself a Belgian, was quoted as saying in Dutch-language paper De Morgen.

"This performance makes us think back to the glory days of Eddy Merckx," he said, referring to Belgium's famous cyclist.

Clijsters beat Russian Nadia Petrova in her semi-final on Thursday, while Henin-Hardenne saw off defending champion Serena Williams of the U.S.

The match between the two compatriots is a repetition of the 2001 semi-final at Roland Garros which Clijsters won.