Serena Williams stages epic comeback to reach French Open semis
Agency :
Serena Williams came back from the brink of elimination Thursday to advance to the French Open semifinals.
The world No. 1 dug herself out of a 5-7, 0-1 hole to knock off Yulia Putintseva in three sets.
Putintseva, currently ranked No. 60, put Williams on the defensive early on. The 21-year-old was able to dictate the pace of the match by comfortably handling Williams’ power and sending her running all across the court. Williams struggled to gain a rhythm, putting up 24 unforced errors and dropping the first set.
It took until the second game of the second set for Williams to find the aggressiveness she had been lacking. She changed her strategy, adding in drop shots and smashing volleys to take Putintseva off of her game. Williams took a 4-1 lead, and looked primed for an easy set victory, but Putintseva wasn’t done fighting.
Putintseva won the sixth game, stole a break thanks to a Williams’ double-fault on break point and came back from 40-0 in the eighth game to tie the set at 4-4. She nearly won the next game to serve for the match, but it would be Williams who took a 5-4 lead after Putintseva suffered a rare unforced error.
Serena Williams came back from the brink of elimination Thursday to advance to the French Open semifinals.
The world No. 1 dug herself out of a 5-7, 0-1 hole to knock off Yulia Putintseva in three sets.
Putintseva, currently ranked No. 60, put Williams on the defensive early on. The 21-year-old was able to dictate the pace of the match by comfortably handling Williams’ power and sending her running all across the court. Williams struggled to gain a rhythm, putting up 24 unforced errors and dropping the first set.
It took until the second game of the second set for Williams to find the aggressiveness she had been lacking. She changed her strategy, adding in drop shots and smashing volleys to take Putintseva off of her game. Williams took a 4-1 lead, and looked primed for an easy set victory, but Putintseva wasn’t done fighting.
Putintseva won the sixth game, stole a break thanks to a Williams’ double-fault on break point and came back from 40-0 in the eighth game to tie the set at 4-4. She nearly won the next game to serve for the match, but it would be Williams who took a 5-4 lead after Putintseva suffered a rare unforced error.
