Henin, the two-time defending champion, beat Sybille Bammer 6-2, 6-4 and Williams topped Dinara Safina 6-2, 6-3 to get to the quarterfinals in Paris.

Henin beat Williams in the semifinals at the French Open four years ago, in a match where Henin's tennis etiquette was questioned and the crowd cheered Williams's double faults.

"I know I wasn't at fault in any way, and I guess she was doing everything to win," Williams said in her news conference today. "Who knows? I don't know. It was a long time ago, and so much has happened since."

The trouble in 2003 started with Williams serving at 4-2, 30-0. Henin raised her hand to indicate she wasn't ready to receive, and Williams, put off, struck the serve into the net.

Umpire Stefan Fransson didn't order the serve to be replayed because he wasn't looking in Henin's direction, and the Belgian didn't intervene. Williams lost the next four points.

Fans in the stadium were rooting for the French-speaking Henin, who won 6-2, 4-6, 7-5. Williams broke down in tears during her news conference, saying then it was a "tough crowd."

"It's four years ago now and a lot of things happened in our careers and in our personal lives," said Henin, the top seed. "We probably grew up a lot. So the situation is completely different this time."

Henin went on to win her first Grand Slam title by defeating Kim Clijsters and claimed four more majors. She missed most of 2004 with a viral illness and separated from her husband, Pierre-Yves Hardenne, this year, forcing her to skip January's Australian Open.

Williams's sister Yetunde Price was shot to death in 2003. She's had knee surgery, and knee injuries the past three years sent her ranking outside the top 100. Williams rebounded by winning the Australian Open in January as an unseeded entry.

"I've been through a lot," said Williams, seeded eighth in Paris. "It takes a strong person to be able to be at the bottom of the barrel and be able to come back. I was beyond the bottom of the barrel."

Henin and Williams have met two times since the 2003 match in Paris. Williams won about a month later in the Wimbledon semifinals, and then saved two match points in the second set of a 0-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory in the final of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami in March.

"I had the match under control completely," Henin said. "I just lost my intensity. When I was down 6-5 in the second set, I completely lost my mind. My emotions weren't under control anymore at that time."

Henin trails Williams 6-3 in their head-to-head meetings, winning three of four on clay. A title in Paris would make Henin the first woman since Monica Seles from 1990-92 to win three straight French Opens.