Serena survives scare

Serena Williams moved to within two matches of winning a record-equalling 22nd Grand Slam title with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 win over Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva in the French Open quarter-finals on Thursday, AFP reports.

Her reward is a semi-final matchup on Friday against another unseeded player, Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands, who defeated Timea Bacsinszky 7-5, 6-2

It was a peculiar performance from the top seed and defending champion, who looked unrecognisable for the first hour of a match played in cold, damp conditions on the Roland Garros centre court.

Defeat was staring the out-of-sorts American in the face at a set and a break down, but in the nick of time the champion managed to rekindle the fires that fuel her game.

Back-to-back service breaks allowed her to turn the match on its head and avoid what would have been one of the biggest upsets in French Open history.

Because of the poor weather conditions that have beset Roland Garros this week, Williams will play her third match in three days in Friday’s semis against Bertens.

A win there would qualify her for Saturday’s final and the chance of matching Steffi Graf’s modern-era record of 22 Grand Slam titles set in Paris in 1999.

“She played unbelievable and I did not think I was going to win that in the second set, but somehow I did,” Williams said.

The match got off to a hesitant start with the players coming off during the third game as light rain started to fall.

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