There were ups and downs in her last three rounds, as she had to battle back from a set down to win all of them – but it was all ups and no downs on Court Philippe Chatrier on Wednesday, as Serena Williams powered past Sara Errani in straight sets to reach the French Open semifinals.
Simply, the No.17-seeded Errani was no match for the No.1-seeded Williams in this quarterfinal clash, as Williams hit 39 winners to 23 unforced errors to cruise through in an hour and six minutes, 6-1, 6-3.
Williams is now an impressive 9-0 lifetime against Errani.
“The last four French Opens in a row she’s been to the quarterfinals or better, so I knew I had to be really focused today,” Williams said. “She does so well here, and she really fights for every point.”
Williams was also serving fantastically in the match – she was only broken once in eight service games, compared to getting broken four times in each of her last three matches. What changed this time?
“I wasn’t able to serve well in my first couple of matches here because I hurt my arm in Madrid, and in Rome I had to pull out,” she said.
“In my first few matches I thought maybe I shouldn’t serve too big, but now I’m feeling a little better. It’s obviously a big part of my game – I really missed it a lot.”
*Reported by wtatour.com