AFP, Paris :
Having seen her main rivals fall by the wayside, Serena Williams is the overwhelming favourite to go on and win a third French Open title as she prepares to face Timea Bacsinszky in Thursday’s semi-finals.
The 33-year-old American number one seed, who is looking for a 20th Grand Slam title, produced her most powerful performance yet to sweep past Italian 17th seed Sara Errani 6-1, 6-3 in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.
Having lost the first set before going on to win each of her previous three matches, Williams gave Errani, a former finalist at Roland Garros, next to no chance and now she will hope her far greater knowledge of the big occasion gives her the edge against Bacsinszky.
The 23rd seed from Switzerland beat unseeded Belgian Alison Van Uytvanck 6-4, 7-5 to build on her fourth-round victory against Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, the fourth seed, and win through to her first Grand Slam semi-final.
“She’s a good player. I think most of all about her is she’s a major fighter. You can have match point, be up a set, and she’s not going to give up,” said Williams of a player she has beaten in each of their two previous meetings, including in the quarter-finals at Indian Wells earlier this year.
