The No.23-seeded Bacsinszky was having the tournament of her life, her mix of consistency and power off the ground bringing her wins over No.16 seed Madison Keys and No.4 seed Petra Kvitova en route to her first major semifinal, and early on against the No.1-seeded Williams she was a world-beater.
Bacsinszky won the first set and broke in a marathon fifth game of the second set for a 6-4, 3-2 lead.
That’s when Williams, a 19-time Grand Slam winner, found her Grand Slam-winning range again, reeling off 10 games in a row and completely running away with the third set to prevail, 4-6, 6-3, 6-0.
Williams, who was visibly under the weather during the match, was unable to make her post-match presser, but issued the following statement: “I’m so sorry I couldn’t make it to press this evening. I have been feeling unwell for a few days, and after this tough match against Timea, I needed to see the tournament doctor. I am proud to be back in the final here at Roland Garros, in a city that means so much to me, and am determined to be 100 percent ready for the final against Lucie on Saturday.”
She’s now a win away from her milestone 20th Grand Slam title, which would be the third-most all-time after Margaret Court (who won 24 Grand Slam titles) and Steffi Graf (who won 22 Grand Slam titles).
Standing between Williams and that milestone is No.13 seed Lucie Safarova, who edged No.7 seed Ana Ivanovic in a tight two-setter in the first semifinal of the day.
Williams has beaten Safarova in all eight of their previous meetings, though many of them have gone to three sets, including their last meeting in Beijing last fall (watch highlights from that one here).
Before the Williams-Bacsinszky match result was known, Safarova was asked in press whom she’d prefer to play in the final – and to the World No.13, and soon-to-be Top 10 player, it didn’t matter.
“That’s a tough question,” the soft-spoken Czech said. “I mean, Serena is No.1 in the world, and a great player. Whoever will be there, I will just go there and play my game, and try to get the trophy.”
The French Open final will take place on beautiful Court Philippe Chatrier on Saturday afternoon.
*Culled from wtatennis.com