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Johnette Howard, ESPN Staff Writer 8y

Serena Williams overcomes negativity, drama once again

Tennis

PARIS -- After the way she has beaten back upset bids and willed her way out of trouble at the French Open the past two years, defending champion Serena Williams might have to accept that her annual fortnights here are going to be high-wire acts.

Simple as that.

Wimbledon's grass amplifies her game. Hard courts suit her spectacularly. But the clay courts here test every bit of her nerves and smarts and stamina.

On Thursday, even Williams admitted there was a point in her quarterfinal match against unsung Yulia Putintseva where, "I honestly didn't think I was going to win in that second set."

And Putintseva? She had the best thing going for her that an underdog could.

"I always was thinking that I can win the match," she said.

Williams survived yet again, keeping alive her attempt to tie Steffi Graf's Open era record of 22 major title wins. But the way she rolled her eyes and patted a hand over her heart after outlasting Putintseva 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 was a dead giveaway.

Williams loves winning, but she can do without this kind of drama.

Last year on the way to the title here, Williams had to carve out comebacks in five of her seven victories. This time, the player tormenting her was a 21-year-old who was born in Moscow, plays for Kazakhstan but lives in Boca Raton.

Putintseva seemed to cover that much geography against Williams on Thursday. To the last point, Putintseva sprinted around the court absorbing everything Williams threw at her.

"She played unbelievable," Williams said. "Put up an incredible fight."

But Williams did, too. Especially when she was a few points from falling out of the tournament. She'll now face 89th-ranked Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands in one semifinal Friday, while No. 4 seed Garbine Muguruza of Spain plays 21st-seeded Australian Samantha Stosur.

"I saw some of her highlights," Williams said of Bertens. "I know she won the week before [in Nuremberg, taking the title as a qualifier]."

Most casual tennis fans don't know a lot about Putintseva, a fourth-year pro who was making her first appearance in a Grand Slam quarterfinal. But Williams had said before the match that she expected a pitched fight, and she was right.

She had played and beaten Putintseva twice before, most recently earlier this year at Indian Wells. Also, Patrick Mouratoglou, Williams' coach since 2013, had worked with Putintseva in the past. But none of that helped Williams flick Putintseva aside.

She lost the opening set -- the first set anyone had pried away from Williams in her past 10 matches over two tournaments.

When Putintseva broke top-ranked Williams to start the second, the crowd was buzzing. An unthinkable upset looked like a real possibility.

What made it seem odder was Williams' emotional temperature was uncharacteristically hard to read. She seemed lost in thought and unusually quiet.

Putintseva has the foot speed, not just the determination, to cover the court from front to back, side to side. She showed the counterpunching skills to hang -- even outlast -- Williams in groundstrokes rallies until she had a chance to snap off a winner herself.

A few games into the second set, Williams realized that and changed tactics.

It was as if Williams' determination not to lose had overtaken any fear of making any more grievous mistakes. By then, she'd already started blasting the ball even harder at Putintseva than she had been earlier in the match.

When Williams hung on to win the final game, she raised both arms in the air and looked at the gloomy skies overhead and said, "Finally."

The reaction was a measure of how well Putintseva played and to the extent she threatened Williams as long as she did.

Asked how she felt after the match, Putintseva smiled wanly and said, "I'm tired."

Williams' semifinal against Bertens won't be a gimme match either. Bertens is playing with confidence. But if Williams can rely on anything, it's that she seems to come up with the goods somehow, someway, when pushed.

"Honestly at one point [today] I didn't see the light at the end of the tunnel," Williams said. "I guess I was just not the most positive, mentally. ... I definitely knew I needed to do something different if I was going to stay in the tournament."

Williams delayed her postmatch press conference for 2½ hours, sparking speculation the cold, dank conditions that have plagued the entire fortnight might have left her with some injury. But she said no.

The challenges change. But so far, Williams keeps finding a way.

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