Justine Henin made a strong point when she observed this year at Roland Garros that women’s tennis was still trying to find “a boss.” How not to see it her way when the latest No. 1 player in the crowded line-up of successors since Henin retired last year is still looking for her first Grand Slam title?

Dinara Safina will have another chance to end her search on Saturday at the French Open when she tries to finish off a near-perfect clay-court season with a victory. To do it, she will need to prevail against a longtime rival and fellow Russian, Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Safina, emboldened by her rise to No. 1, has been the best clay-court player this spring. Only one person has beaten her: Kuznetsova in a final on indoor clay in Stuttgart, Germany.

Both 23, they share overlapping backgrounds. Both left Russia as teenagers to train in Spain in order to raise their games, and both are not the only world-class athletes in their families. Kuznetsova and Safina first played each other as young juniors, and Kuznetsova’s recollection is that she won just one game. “I used to be a girl from St. Petersburg; she was from Moscow and her mom is a huge coach,” Kuznetsova said. “She was No. 1, No. 2, always great.”

But Safina did not win a set in her previous Grand Slam singles finals. She was beaten by Ana Ivanovic of Serbia here last year and crushed by Serena Williams in the Australian Open final this year. Now, she will face someone much more familiar, someone she has been playing for years and whom she has beaten 8 times out of 13. “This story,” Kuznetsova said, “goes way back.”