Serena Storms Back to Move Into French Open Semis

Defending French Open champion Serena Williams completed a comeback in the quarterfinals at Roland Garros on Thursday, coming back from a set and a break down to defeat 60th-ranked Kazakh Yulia Putintseva, 5-7, 6-4, 6-1.

Serena survived two break points at 4-4 in the second set, which she eventually won when world number 60 Putintseva served a double fault.

"She played unbelievable. And I honestly didn't think I was going to win that in the second set," said Serena, who advances to the semifinals where she will meet the 58th-ranked Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands. "Somehow I did."

Serena is seeking her 22nd Grand Slam title, which would equal Steffi Graf's Open-era record. The 21-year-old Putintseva has never been past the third round of any major tournament.

Awaiting Serena in the semis is Bertens, who reached her first Grand Slam semifinal Thursday after defeating Switzerland’s Timea Bacsinszky, 7-5, 6-2.

Serena and Bertens have met only once before, a 7-6(5), 6-3 win for Serena last September at Flushing Meadows.

The other semifinals singles matchup on the women’s side of the draw will feature the fourth-seeded Garbiñe Muguruza from Spain meeting the number 21 seed, Australian Sam Stosur. Muguruza ended the Roland Garros run by 108th-ranked American Shelby Rogers, 7-5, 6-3, while Stosur is returning to the semis in Paris after her 6-4, 7-6(6) win over Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova.

"It's going to be a tough one against Garbiñe," Stosur said. "She's fourth in the world at the moment. She's had a great couple of years. She has had some good wins this week obviously to be this far. She hits the ball hard and flat and she's very aggressive. I'm expecting a tough one. I will have to play well, and if I'm not playing my best I will have to find a way and do something that's going to hopefully put me in a position to do well."

The semifinals encounter will mark the pair’s second career meeting, with Stosur holding a 1-0 advantage after a 7-5, 3-6, 6-1 win in 2014 over Muguruza at the Madrid Masters.