PARIS: Russian seventh seed Svetlana Kuznetsova survived a fightback from American world No 2 Serena Williams to book a French Open semifinal berth with a 7-6 (7/3), 5-7, 7-5 win here yesterday.
Kuznetsova, the 2006 runner-up, will play Australian 30th seed Samantha Stosur for a place in the final, after she came past Romania's Sorana Cirstea.
World No 7 Kuznetsova broke twice to open up a 3-0 first-set lead, the double-break secured with a superb curving backhand winner down the line, before conceding a break with a double-fault in her next service game.
Williams broke again when Kuznetsova was serving for the set at 5-4, but after surviving a set point at 5-6 down on her own serve the Russian played superbly to prevail in the subsequent tie-break.
The American, the 2002 champion, found herself 4-1 down after an early break in the second set and Kuznetsova served for the match at 5-3 up after exchanging breaks with her opponent, only for Williams to dig deep for a double-break before levelling the match with an ace.
Williams saw off two match points at 4-5 down in a tense decider before finally capitulating with a tired backhand to hand Kuznetsova only her second victory over the 10-time major-winner in seven attempts after 2hr 46min on court.
In another quarterfinal match earlier, Stosur, the 30th seed, beat unseeded Romanian teenager Cirstea 6-1, 6-3 to qualify for her first ever Grand Slam semifinal.
It will be the first Roland Garros semifinal appearance for an Australian woman since Nicole Provis in 1988.
Cirstea, 19, had beaten three seeds, including Serbian world No 5 Jelena Jankovic, en route to the last eight but a nervous double-fault saw her broken in her first service game.
The big-serving Stosur, ranked 32 in the world, then broke again when Cirstea scooped a crosscourt forehand wide before serving out for the set in 27 minutes.
A more tenacious Cirstea forced Stosur to save four break points in the opening game of the second set, before the Australian broke for a 2-1 lead.
Stosur's advantage stretched to 4-1 when Cirstea sliced a backhand into the tramlines in her next service game, with the Australian surviving a late rally from her opponent before breaking again to close out the match.
Should Stosur make the final, she will be the first Australian woman to do so since Wendy Turnbull in 1979.
The last Aussie women's champion here was Margaret Smith-Court in 1973.
Source:China Daily/Agencies
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