By Richard Pagliaro | Thursday, June 2, 2016
Yulia Putintseva was five points from a stunning upset when Serena Williams charged back winning eight of the final nine games to reach the Roland Garros semifinals for the fifth time.
Photo credit: Julien Crosnier/FFT
Shrieking sirens from a racing ambulance outside the grounds reverberated throughout Court Philippe Chatrier about 90 minutes into a pulsating quarterfinal.
Serena Williams was too busy answering her own major emergency to notice.
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A feisty Yulia Putintseva was five points from a stunning upset putting Williams on the precipice of her sixth quarterfinal exit in Paris.
The world No. 1 met the challenge on the rise.
Charging forward to shorten points, Williams stormed through eight of the final nine games fighting off her toughest test of the tournament, 5-7, 6-4, 6-1, to advance to her fifth Roland Garros semifinal.
The top seed twice tuned out the bleating sirens during critical stages of her rally; Williams said real-life crises inspire her comebacks.
"I never give up," Williams told Tennis Channel analyst Justin Gimelstob afterward. "Not only on court but in life. It's a really big message to tell people. I'm playing tennis and some people are going through so much more. The least I can do is fight to the last point."
It was Williams' 12th straight Roland Garros victory and marked the first time she's lost a set in Paris since she defeated Lucie Safarova, 6-3, 6-7, 6-2, in the 2015 final.
The three-time champion will play Kiki Bertens in tomorrow's semifinals.
The 58th-ranked Bertens continued her dream run defeating 2015 semifinalist Timea Bacsinszky, 7-5, 6-2, to reach her first Grand Slam semifinal.
On a day in which a fired-up opponent showed no fear and her backhand betrayed her at times, Williams dug in with defiance and worked her through a challenging quarterfinal. It wasn't easy. It wasn't pretty either, but Williams warded off damp, chilly conditions, a fiery opponent and self-imposed pressure with some timely charges forward.
Committed to shortening points, Williams won 20 of 28 trips to net and hit twice as many winners (36 to 18) as Putintseva, who was playing her first Grand Slam quarterfinal.
"I felt like in the beginning of the second set I started playing better, but then I let her come back," Williams said. "But I also think she's an incredible fighter, so she kind of came back through her will and making shots. Then after that I was like, I have to do something better and different if I'm going to stick around."
The 60th-ranked Kazakh came out with more intensity and a clear game plan. As her former coach and past Williams nemesis Martina Hingis looked on from her support box, Putintseva tied the reigning champion up with the body serve and pounded away at Williams' two-handed backhand.
Down 0-40 in the 11th game, Putintseva erupted. Cracking her backhand crosscourt, she rallied back to break for 6-5.
Showing no signs of nerves serving for the set, Putintseva drew a backhand error stamping a love hold to snatch a one-set lead and throwing her arms toward her box as if urging supporters out of their seats.
Williams was her own worst enemy in the opening set, committing 22 more unforced errors (24 to 2) than her pumped-up opponent and countering flat-footed at times.
Playing with more positive energy and yelling at herself between points, Putintseva won 13 of 14 points sealing the first set and breaking at love to open the second set.
Stepping inside the baseline and attacking the 21-year-old baseliner's serve with menacing intentions, the champion broke back. Williams dragged her opponent forward with the drop shot then bamboozled her with a lob winner for 2-1.
Blowing her nose on changeovers and wrapping herself in a towel to ward off the chill, Williams began moving with more urgency. Pounding away in baseline rallies, she coaxed an errant forehand breaking again for 3-1.
A four-game run but the top seed in charge, but Putintseva broke back in the seventh game on a Williams double fault. Blond ponytail bouncing over her shoulder as she launched herself into baseline strikes, Putintseva denied three break points in the eighth game to level.
An awkward low forehand volley strayed wide giving Putintseva a break point in the ninth game. Williams saved it with a delayed net charge. On her second break point, Putintseva had another look at a pass, but blinked missing a forehand.
"I thought I just can't go out in straight sets," Williams said. "I thought if I can just win a set... She's playing some different tennis and I wasn't used to it."
After a tense struggle, Williams withstood the crisis holding for 5-4 on a return error. The top seed raised her hands toward the heavens in a gesture of relief.
Grunting louder and hitting heavier, Williams earned double set point. On the second set point, Putintseva gagged. She spun a second serve off the tape, the ball sputtered long and the server twirled her racquet in disgust knowing she had let opportunity slip.
Recharged, Williams streaked forward lifting a backhand drop volley storming out to a 3-0 lead in the decider. She hit her backhand with more spin as the match progressed, sometimes hitting high heavy spin to push her 5'4" opponent backward.
Both women amped up the intensity and grunts until Williams rifled a running forehand crosscourt breaking again for her sixth straight game and a 4-0 lead. The point brought Williams' entire support team, including coach Patrick Mouratoglou and agent Jill Smoller, out of their seats urging her to finish the job.
The match reminded that the pressure Williams feels chasing her 22nd career Grand Slam title to equal Steffi Graf's Open Era record combined with soggy, slow clay that blunt her power a bit can create complications. It also reinforced the fact the reigning champion's closing power remains one of her best assets.