Serena Cruises Into French Open Semis
After being forced to come back from a set down in her previous three matches at Roland Garros, world number one Serena Williams did not want to go down that path again. She came out firing early and often against Italy’s Sara Errani, beating the 17th-seed 6-1, 6-3 to move into the French Open’s final four.
Serena broke Errani in the second game to take a 2-0 lead, and despite being broken right back, Serena would win the next four games to wrap up the opening frame.
In the second, Errani played behind the baseline to try and neutralize the power of Serena’s serve but was just unable to match her all day. Serena won 81 percent of points on her first serve and never allowed a door for Errani to get back into the match.
The difference between this match and Serena’s previous three was her ability to dominate with the serve. She served 10 aces and gave up just three break point opportunities.
“I wasn’t able to serve well in my first couple of matches here because I hurt my arm in Madrid, and in Rome I had to pull out,” said Serena. “In my first few matches I thought maybe I shouldn’t serve too big, but now I’m feeling a little better. It’s obviously a big part of my game—I missed it a lot.”
Serena will play 23rd seeded Swiss Timea Bacsinszky in the semis after Bacsinszky moved past Beligum’s Alison Van Uytvanck in straight sets 6-4, 7-5.
The other semifinal match in Paris will pit seventh-seeded Ana Ivanovic against the 13th-seeded Lucie Safarova.
