Defending Roland Garros champion Francesca Schiavone fought hard to subdue her younger opponent to reach the French Open semifinals. The 30-year old Italian beat 14th-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia 1-6, 7-5, 7-5 in the quarterfinals.
Schiavone was two points from defeat in the second set with her 19-year opponent calling the shots. However, the Italian turned things around to win the second set and went 5-1 in the third before Pavlyuchenkova also made her own comeback but fell short.
Schiavone set a record last year as the first Italian woman to win a Grand Slam singles title. She next faces Marion Bartoli of France in the semifinals.
