After surviving a scare against Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals, Serena Williams will be wary of another tough battle when the French Open favorite comes up against the dangerous and increasingly impressive Sara Errani in the semifinals at Roland Garros.
Williams was up against it in her last-eight match against Kuznetsova, 2-0 down in the deciding set, before through sheer willpower she found a way past the experienced Russian to book her place in the semifinals and move to within two victories of winning only her second French Open title and first since 2002.
"That was just a brief, brief, brief, like fleeting thought," Williams, who was knocked out at this stage by Kuznetsova four years ago when the Russian went on win the title, said about her feelings while she was down in the third set.
"And after that it was just, let's just play this match and let's just do the best that I can. Even though I was down I was still competing, so I couldn't necessarily dwell on the fact that I've lost so many quarterfinal matches here.
"When I was serving at 0-2, I thought 'Can't go out like this again,'" added the American, who has lost in the quarterfinals at Roland Garros on four previous occasions.
"Today I was so determined to get through that, and I really, really, really, really wanted it more than I think anyone."
Williams, who is now on a 29-match winning streak will know Errani, the finalist here last year, will be no easy opponent.
"You've got to appreciate how consistent she is," Williams said. "We had a pretty tough match in Madrid (recently).
"She's so serious. I can be ready for that."
Errani will really have nothing to lose against the world number one, and the Italian believes the slower clay court will give her a slight advantage.
"Playing Serena, it's for sure very difficult because she's very strong," Errani said.
"Physically she's an incredible athlete, so is not easy to play against her ... because she has a lot of power.
"So it will be tough, but maybe on clay is a bit better than any other surface."
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