Serena Williams
staged another of her remarkable comebacks to make the French Open final on
Thursday evening, despite suffering apparent discomfort from a heavy cold.
In the swiftly
increasing temperatures seen here, the 33-year-old American at times appeared
close to tears as she recovered to beat Switzerland' s Timea Bacsinszky 4-6 6-3
6-0.
The
victory earns Williams her third straight Grand Slam championship match.
Serena Williams clenches her fist after a slide on the Roland Garros clay as she won through to the final
Williams screams on her way to victory over Swiss 23rd seed Timea Bacsinszky on Thursday
Timea Bacsinszky returns in her hard-fought semi-final defeat by Williams in their French Open semi-final
Swiss power-hitter Bacsinszky, who will rocket up the rankings after this semi, reaches for a backhand
Bacsinszky,
seeded 23, was also emotional at the end, having led by a break of serve at 3-2
in the second while her opponent sat with ice packs around her neck at every
changeover and coughed continually.
It was
the fourth time Williams had revived after losing the first set in this
tournament.
'I'm ill.
Hopefully on Saturday I will get better,' said the American, who has frequently
seemed sub-par this fortnight.
She
certainly did not underplay her condition on Thursday, looking very sluggish
early on. But by the end she was able to reel off the last ten games against a
somewhat bemused looking opponent.
Williams unleashes her powerful forehand on her way to victory over Bacsinszky 4-6, 6-3, 6-0
Williams appeared tired and emotional throughout the match but showed her championship credentials to win
Williams remonstrates with the umpire during what would be her fourth three setter of the tournament
Bacsinszky asks the umpire to have a closer look at a line call during her encounter against Williams
She will
now meet surprise package Lucie Safarova, the No 13 seed from the Czech
Republic, who upset no 7 Ana Ivanovic 7-5 7-5.
The
left-handed Safarova, who reached the Wimbledon semi-finals last year, came
from 2-5 down in the first set against the nerve-prone serve of Ivanovic, whose
relationship with ever-present footballer Bastian Schweinsteiger has attracted
so much attention this week.
Safarova
got very nervous herself at the end, but managed to close the match out at the
second time of asking.
Bacsinszky shocked a tired Williams to claim the first set 6-4 but was unable to maintain her intensity
The American world No 1 falls to her knees as she appears to feel unwell during the match
She covers herself with a towel to protect herself from the blazing afternoon sun in the French capital
Williams puts ice-cold towels on her face in a bid for relief from the heat during another tough match
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