Serena Williams into semis of the French open 2016

PARIS, France
Defending champion and top seed Serena Williams was on the ropes for much of her quarterfinal encounter with  Yulia putintseva, but the American found a way to outgut the inspired young Kazakh, 5-7, 6-4, 6-1, to reach the last four at the French open.

Undaunted, the American appeared on course to quickly level the contest when she recovered from an early break to race out to a 4-1 lead in the second, but Putintseva dug deep to earn two break points in the ninth game, which would have given her the chance to serve for a spot in the semifinals.

"I just kept hitting balls out," Serena told press, assessing her performance. "I just wasn't firing the way I wanted to. I definitely knew I needed to do something different if I was going to stay in the tournament