Sara Errani of Italy proved that her run to the final at last year’s Roland Garros was no fluke when she reached the French Open semifinals this year with her first win over a top five player – fourth-ranked Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-4, 7-6.
Prior to this match, Errani was 0-28 against top-five players but her crafty play on claycourts paid off and she earned the right to play against top-ranked Serena Williams for a place in the final. Williams had a tougher quarterfinal match, surviving a three-set tussle against Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova (also a former French Open champion).
“In these conditions with such a lot of wind, the serve wasn’t a huge weapon – it was 50/50 to win the games,” Radwanska said. “It didn’t matter who was serving. That’s why there were so many breaks. But I think it was a very good match anyway, and very close too, especially in the second set.
“But all our matches are really close. She was playing very solid tennis and didn’t miss much. She was playing her game and didn’t give me any free points. Every point I really had to win myself,” she added.
