{"id":4747,"date":"2013-06-04T23:30:09","date_gmt":"2013-06-04T23:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/disnaija.com\/nigeria-news\/french-open-serena-berths-in-semi-finals\/"},"modified":"2013-06-04T23:30:09","modified_gmt":"2013-06-04T23:30:09","slug":"french-open-serena-berths-in-semi-finals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disnaija.com\/french-open-serena-berths-in-semi-finals\/","title":{"rendered":"French Open: Serena Berths In Semi Finals"},"content":{"rendered":"
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World number one, Serena Williams survived a huge scare to reach her first French Open semi-final since 2003 on Tuesday, defeating unseeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.<\/p>\n

Williams, bidding to win her second title in Paris, 11 years after her first, looked down and almost out at one stage against the 2009 champion.<\/p>\n

Despite coasting through the first set, Williams dropped serve for the first time in the tournament, being broken three times in the second set, trailed 0-2 in the third and fought off two break points that would have seen her slip to 0-3.<\/p>\n

But she battled back, winning six of the next seven games to secure victory in a shade under two hours.<\/p>\n

The hard fought victory extended Williams’ winning streak to 29 matches as she moved into a semi-final clash against Italian fifth seed Sara Errani, the runner-up to Maria Sharapova last year.<\/p>\n

“It was very difficult and I am very tired,” said Williams.<\/p>\n

“Svetlana played very well. She has won this tournament before so I am happy to get through such a tough match.<\/p>\n

“Against Sara, it will be another tough match, she’s a great fighter,\u201d Williams said after the match.<\/p>\n

Williams, who had dropped just 10 games in reaching the last-eight, eased through the first set with breaks in the second and sixth games, sealing the opener with an ace, despite the challenges posed by a tricky, swirling wind inside Court Suzanne Lenglen.<\/p>\n

The 27-year-old Kuznetsova took a medical timeout off the court and the treatment worked wonders as she broke for a 2-0 lead in the second set.<\/p>\n

The wily Kuznetsova, who had defeated the American at the same stage in 2009 on her way to the title, fended off two break points to go to 3-0 and broke again for 4-0 before Williams clawed one back for 1-4.<\/p>\n

But the American then dropped serve for a third time to slip 5-1 down as the Russian forced the errors with a clever mix of power, angles and drop shots.<\/p>\n

It was a realisation that, unlike too many others on the tour, she was not going to out-bludgeon the world number one and that the key was to keep her moving.<\/p>\n

Williams, however, dug deep, got back to 3-5, had break points in the 10th game but a scrambling, netted backhand gave Kuznetsova the set to level the tie.<\/p>\n

It was the first set the top seed had dropped in the tournament.<\/p>\n

Kuznetsova kept the 31-year-old American on the back foot and was 2-0 up in the decider and had two points for a 3-0 lead.<\/p>\n

The Dubai-based Russian couldn’t make that last push and was made to pay as Williams broke back for 2-2.<\/p>\n

The world number one was quickly 5-2 ahead and she claimed the tie with a rasping cross-court forehand.<\/p>\n

Errani reached the semi-finals with a 6-4, 7-6 (8\/6) win over Polish fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska.<\/p>\n

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