Williams is a win away from matching Steffi Graf’s 22 grand slam titles in the Open Era and Djokovic needs one victory to become the eighth man to tally all four majors.
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Serena Williams outlasted gritty Dutchwoman Kiki Bertens in two tough sets on Friday to reach the French Open final, where she will play fourth seeded Spaniard Garbine Muguruza with her 22nd grand slam singles title at stake.
On Friday, the women’s semifinals were played simultaneously in front of similarly empty stadiums, Williams vs. Bertens at Court Philippe Chatrier, Muguruza vs. Stosur at Court Suzanne Lenglen, where tickets were available for 20 euros ($22). “You work all your life to get here”. She played the big points really well’ – Serena said.
“Of course I want to say thank you to my team, my coach, everyone there [in the players’ box], my family, for sure”.
Williams dug deep to get back to 3-2 sparking a scream of defiance from a player who had been in 26 Grand Slam finals dating back to 1999 and lost just five of them.
The champion was broken in the first game by her unseeded opponent who, entering the contest on a 12-match winning singles streak in all competitions, showed no sign of nerves in her first major semi-final.
In the fourth game, which lasted nine minutes, Muguruza saved a break point with an unreturnable forehand, then a second with an ace.
“I’m convinced she was panicking a bit in the inside, but she managed these moments very well”, said her coach, Frenchman Sam Sumyk, who also guided Belarussian Victoria Azarenka to her first major title at the 2012 Australian Open, and to the top of the world rankings. When Muguruza smacked a backhand victor on her third set point, she was one set from the championship. This time, Muguruza maintained her aggressive tennis, sending Williams scrambling round the baseline trying in vain to deal with the power coming from the other end.
With red clay dust still clinging to her shirt, the 22-year-old Spaniard told on-court interviewer Marion Bartoli that she “tried to fight as much as I can” on her way to her first Grand Slam title.
Muguruza, not fazed one iota by missing her chances to close out the match, served it out to love, 6-4, by dropping a final lob onto the baseline. Muguruza beat Williams here in second round two years ago, announcing herself to the tennis world. “I think in Australia, Kerber made 16 errors in three sets, you know, so what do you do in that situation?”
Williams is, by consensus, the greatest server in the history of the women’s game, but on this day, Muguruza broke that serve an unnerving four times.
The top seed was clearly not at her best as she sent down nearly as many unforced errors (28) as she did winners (32). That’s all. I’ll try and control my emotions, and I hope I can win this title. Williams said. “Today Garbiñe played unbelievable”.
When she double-faulted twice to concede a break at the start of the second, she simply set about breaking Williams’ serve.
But asked if she was suffering from a groin injury as suggested by retired former Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli, who is working this year as a courtside TV interviewer, Williams replied flatly: “I heard she said that”.
Most crucially, she did so in the seventh game of the second set to go down 5-2, but, with Muguruza serving for the match, Stosur broke to stay alive.
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Williams insisted she was fine, but her outing against Putintseva suggested otherwise.
