Top seed Serena Williams survived a French Open scare on Thursday against her unseeded quarterfinal opponent, Yulia Putintseva. Williams, who is in the middle of a campaign to earn her 22nd Grand Slam title, dropped her opening set to Putintseva, who to this point had taken Williams to a tiebreak in each of their first sets in previous matches.
French Open scores 2016: Serena Williams survives 1st set loss, advances to semifinals
After an early scare against Yulia Putintseva, Serena Williams advances to the semifinals at Roland Garros.
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But Williams held on and handled Putintseva in the next two sets, and punched her ticket into the semifinals with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 victory. It was a rare scare for Williams, who is heavily favored to win this year’s French Open, especially with players like Maria Sharapova, Agnieszka Radwanska and Ana Ivanovic already out of the tournament.
Williams advances to the semifinals where she will face Kiki Bertens, another unseeded player who took down No. 8 seed Timea Bacsinszky in straight sets to advance on Thursday. Bertens bested Bacsinszky, who herself took down Venus Williams in the fourth round, by a score of 7-5, 6-2.
In the other semifinal matchup, No. 4 Garbine Muguruza will face No. 21 Samantha Stosur.
On the men’s side, Novak Djokovic’s continuing bid to grab his first French Open title is still on track. Djokovic made short work of No. 7 seed Tomas Berdych, a tough player who has offered little in the way of answers to figuring out Djokovic over the years. Djokovic, the top seed and favorite to win on the clay of Roland Garros this year, beat Berdych, 6-3, 7-5, 6-3.
Djokovic will advance to the semifinals where he’ll meet No. 13 seed Dominic Thiem. This should be an interesting one after Thiem bested No. 12 David Goffin in four sets on Thursday, 4-6, 7-6(7), 6-4, 6-1. The other semifinal matchup will feature No. 2 seed Andy Murray up against No. 3 seed Stan Wawrinka, the defending champion who beat Djokovic in the finals last year.
Men’s Singles
No. 1 Novak Djokovic def. No. 7 Tomas Berdych, 6-3, 7-5, 6-3
No. 13 Dominic Thiem def. No. 12 David Goffin, 4-6, 7-6(7), 6-4, 6-1
Women’s Singles
No. 1 Serena Williams def. Yulia Putintseva, 5-7, 6-4, 6-1
Kiki Bertens def. No. 8 Timea Bacsinszky, 7-5, 6-2
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